CN103282543A - Vapor deposition device, vapor deposition method, and organic EL display device - Google Patents

Abstract

Evaporation particles (91) emitted from at least one evaporation source opening (61) pass through the plurality of restriction openings (82) of the restriction unit (80) and the plurality of mask openings (71) of the evaporation mask (70). ), attached to the substrate (10) relatively moving along the second direction (10a) to form a coating. The confinement unit includes a plurality of laminated sheets. Accordingly, it is possible to form a vapor-deposition film in which edge blurring is suppressed on a large substrate efficiently and at low cost.

Description

Evaporation device, evaporation method and organic EL display device

technical field

The present invention relates to a vapor deposition device and a vapor deposition method for forming a film of a predetermined pattern on a substrate. In addition, the present invention relates to an organic EL display device including an organic EL (Electro Luminescence: electroluminescence) element provided with a light-emitting layer formed by vapor deposition.

Background technique

In recent years, flat panel displays have been used in various products and fields, and flat panel displays have been required to be larger in size, higher in image quality, and lower in power consumption.

Under such circumstances, an organic EL display device equipped with an organic EL element using electroluminescence (ElectroLuminescence) of an organic material is an all-solid-state flat panel display that is capable of low-voltage drive, high-speed response, and self-luminescence. , has received a lot of attention.

For example, in an active matrix organic EL display device, a thin-film organic EL element is provided on a substrate provided with TFTs (thin film transistors). In an organic EL element, an organic EL layer including a light emitting layer is laminated between a pair of electrodes. The TFT is connected to one of the pair of electrodes. Image display is performed by applying a voltage between a pair of electrodes to cause the light-emitting layer to emit light.

In a full-color organic EL display device, generally, organic EL elements including light-emitting layers of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) colors are formed on a substrate as sub-pixel arrays. Color image display is performed by selectively making these organic EL elements emit light with a desired luminance using TFTs.

In order to manufacture an organic EL display device, it is necessary to form a light-emitting layer containing an organic light-emitting material that emits light of each color in a predetermined pattern for each organic EL element.

As a method of forming a light-emitting layer in a predetermined pattern, for example, a vacuum evaporation method, an inkjet method, and a laser transfer method are known. For example, in a low-molecular-weight organic EL display device (OLED), a vacuum evaporation method is often used.

In the vacuum deposition method, a mask (also referred to as a shadow mask) in which openings of a predetermined pattern are formed is used. The surface to be vapor-deposited of the substrate on which the mask is closely fixed is opposed to the vapor-deposition source. Then, vapor deposition particles (film-forming material) from the vapor deposition source are vapor-deposited on the surface to be vapor-deposited through the openings of the mask, thereby forming a coating film in a predetermined pattern. Evaporation is performed for each color of the light-emitting layer (this is called "split coating evaporation").

For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe a method of sequentially moving a mask with respect to a substrate to perform separate coating and vapor deposition of light emitting layers of respective colors. In such a method, a mask having the same size as the substrate is used, and the mask is fixed so as to cover the surface of the substrate to be vapor-deposited during vapor deposition.

In such a conventional separation coating vapor deposition method, as the substrate becomes larger, the size of the mask needs to be increased accordingly. However, when the mask is enlarged, a gap is likely to be generated between the substrate and the mask due to bending and elongation of the mask itself. Furthermore, the size of the gap differs depending on the position of the surface to be vapor-deposited on the substrate. Therefore, it is difficult to perform high-precision patterning, misalignment of vapor deposition positions and color mixing occur, and it is difficult to achieve high-definition.

In addition, when the size of the mask is increased, the size of the mask, the frame holding the mask, and the like will increase, and the weight will also increase. Therefore, handling will become difficult, which may hinder productivity and safety. In addition, the vapor deposition device and its accompanying devices are similarly enlarged and complicated, so that device design becomes difficult and installation costs become high.

Therefore, in the conventional coating vapor deposition methods described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is difficult to deal with large substrates. For example, it is difficult to perform coating vapor deposition at a mass production level on large substrates exceeding 60 inches in size.

Patent Document 3 describes a vapor deposition method in which vapor deposition particles emitted from the vapor deposition source are passed through the vapor deposition mask while the vapor deposition source and the vapor deposition mask are relatively moved relative to the substrate. The mold is attached to the substrate after the mask opening. According to this vapor deposition method, even if it is a large substrate, it is not necessary to increase the size of the vapor deposition mask accordingly.

Patent Document 4 describes that a vapor deposition beam direction adjustment plate is arranged between the vapor deposition source and the vapor deposition mask, and the vapor deposition beam direction adjustment plate forms a cylindrical or prismatic vapor deposition beam with a diameter of about 0.1 mm to 1 mm. through the hole. The directivity of the vapor deposition beam can be improved by allowing the vapor deposition particles emitted from the vapor deposition beam radiation hole of the vapor deposition source to pass through the vapor deposition beam passing hole formed on the vapor deposition beam direction adjusting plate.

prior art literature

patent documents

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-227276

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-188179

Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-349101

Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-103269

Contents of the invention

The technical problem to be solved by the invention

According to the vapor deposition method described in Patent Document 3, since a vapor deposition mask smaller than the substrate can be used, vapor deposition on a large substrate can be easily performed.

However, since the vapor deposition mask needs to be relatively moved with respect to the substrate, it is necessary to separate the substrate from the vapor deposition mask. In Patent Document 3, vapor deposition particles flying from various directions can be incident on the mask opening of the vapor deposition mask. Therefore, the width of the coating film formed on the substrate is larger than the width of the mask opening. The edge will be fuzzy (burr).

Patent Document 4 describes improving the directivity of a vapor deposition beam incident on a vapor deposition mask by using a vapor deposition beam direction adjustment plate.

However, in an actual vapor deposition process, vapor deposition particles (ie, vapor deposition material) discharged from the vapor deposition source adhere to the vapor deposition beam direction adjustment plate. When the deposition amount of the vapor deposition material adhering to the vapor deposition beam direction adjustment plate increases, the vapor deposition material will eventually peel off from the vapor deposition beam direction adjustment plate and fall. When the vapor deposition material falls onto the vapor deposition source, the vapor deposition material may re-evaporate and adhere to an unintended position on the substrate, resulting in a decrease in yield. In addition, when the vapor deposition material falls onto the vapor deposition beam radiation hole of the vapor deposition source and blocks the radiation hole, a vapor deposition film may not be formed at a desired position on the substrate, and the yield may still decrease.

In order to avoid this, it is necessary to replace the vapor deposition beam direction adjustment plate to which the vapor deposition material is attached with a new vapor deposition beam direction adjustment plate. In order to replace the large and heavy vapor deposition beam direction adjustment plate while maintaining the vacuum atmosphere, a large-scale facility is required for the replacement, and there is a problem that the cost of the device increases. On the other hand, when opening the vacuum chamber and breaking the vacuum atmosphere to replace the vapor deposition beam direction adjustment plate, it takes a lot of work and time, and as a result, there is a problem that the productivity in mass production is lowered.

An object of the present invention is to efficiently and cost-effectively form a vapor-deposited film on a large substrate in which edge blurring is suppressed.

Means used to solve technical problems

The vapor deposition device of the present invention is characterized in that the vapor deposition device is a vapor deposition device for forming a coating film in a predetermined pattern on a substrate, and the vapor deposition device includes: a vapor deposition unit including a vapor deposition source, a vapor deposition A mask and a restricting unit, the vapor deposition source has at least one vapor deposition source opening, the vapor deposition mask is arranged between the at least one vapor deposition source opening and the substrate, and the restricting unit is arranged in the at least one vapor deposition source opening. Between the plating source opening and the above-mentioned evaporation mask and along the first direction perpendicular to the normal line of the above-mentioned substrate, a plurality of restricting parts are arranged; In the state of keeping a certain distance, make one of the above-mentioned substrate and the above-mentioned evaporation unit, along the second direction perpendicular to the normal direction of the above-mentioned substrate and the above-mentioned first direction, relative to the above-mentioned substrate and one of the above-mentioned evaporation units. Another relative movement, the above-mentioned vapor deposition device releases from the above-mentioned at least one vapor-deposition source opening, and passes through a plurality of restriction openings separated by the above-mentioned plurality of restriction parts and a plurality of masks formed on the above-mentioned evaporation mask. The vapor deposition particles in the openings are attached to the substrate to form the coating film, and the limiting unit includes a plurality of stacked plates.

The vapor deposition method of the present invention is characterized in that the vapor deposition method includes a vapor deposition step of attaching vapor deposition particles to a substrate to form a film in a predetermined pattern, and the vapor deposition step is performed using the vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention described above.

The organic EL display device of the present invention includes, as a light-emitting layer, a coating film formed using the vapor deposition method of the present invention described above.

Invention effect

According to the vapor deposition apparatus and vapor deposition method of the present invention, while relatively moving one of the substrate and the vapor deposition unit relative to the other, the vapor deposition particles passing through the mask opening formed on the vapor deposition mask are attached to the On the substrate, it is possible to use a vapor deposition mask smaller than the substrate. Therefore, it is possible to form a coating film by vapor deposition also on a large substrate.

The plurality of restricting parts separating the plurality of restricting openings selectively captures the vapor deposition particles incident on the restricting openings according to the incident angle, so only the vapor deposition particles below the predetermined incident angle enter the mask opening. . As a result, the maximum incident angle of the vapor deposition particles with respect to the substrate becomes smaller, so that blurring at the edge of the coating film formed on the substrate can be suppressed.

Since the limiting unit includes a plurality of plates, only the plate to which the vapor deposition material is attached needs to be replaced. That is, there is no need to replace the entire confinement unit to which the vapor deposition material adheres. Therefore, the replacement device can be simplified, and thus the cost of the vapor deposition device can be reduced. In addition, the time for replacement can be shortened, and therefore, the decrease in productivity of the device due to replacement can be reduced. Thereby, vapor deposition can be performed at low cost and with high efficiency.

The organic EL display device of the present invention includes a light-emitting layer formed by the above-mentioned vapor deposition method, and therefore, a light-emitting layer in which blurring of edges is suppressed can be formed at low cost. Therefore, it is possible to provide an inexpensive organic EL display device that is excellent in reliability and display quality and that can also be increased in size.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of an organic EL display device.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the structure of pixels constituting the organic EL display device shown in FIG. 1 .

3 is a cross-sectional view of a TFT substrate constituting an organic EL display device taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the manufacturing process of the organic EL display device in order of steps.

5 is a perspective view showing the basic configuration of the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

6 is a front cross-sectional view of the vapor deposition device shown in FIG. 5 , taken along a surface passing through the vapor deposition source opening perpendicular to the traveling direction of the substrate.

FIG. 7 is a front cross-sectional view of a vapor deposition apparatus of a comparative example in which a limiting unit is omitted from the vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG. 5 .

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view explaining the cause of blurring at both ends of the film.

9 is a cross-sectional view along a plane perpendicular to the moving direction of the substrate, showing how a coating film is formed on the substrate in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

10 is a cross-sectional view taken along a plane perpendicular to the moving direction of the substrate for explaining the problem of deposition material adhering to the confinement unit in the vapor deposition device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

11A to 11D are diagrams sequentially showing the replacement procedure of the plates constituting the limiting unit in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

12 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a vapor deposition system including the vapor deposition device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention and the regeneration system of the limiting unit.

13A to 13D are diagrams sequentially showing the replacement procedure of the plates constituting the limiting unit in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

14 is a partial plan view of three types of plate materials constituting the limiting unit in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

15 is a cross-sectional view of the limiting unit along a plane parallel to the moving direction of the substrate in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

16A is a diagram showing the replacement procedure of plates constituting a limiting unit in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 16B is a diagram showing the replacement procedure of plates constituting the limiting unit in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 16C is a diagram showing the replacement procedure of plates constituting the limiting unit in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 16D is a diagram showing the replacement procedure of plates constituting the limiting unit in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

17A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of one restriction opening of the restriction unit and its vicinity in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. 17B is an enlarged plan view of one restriction opening of the restriction unit and its vicinity in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

18 is a perspective view showing a basic configuration of a vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

19 is a front cross-sectional view of the vapor deposition device shown in FIG. 18 along a surface passing through the vapor deposition source opening perpendicular to the traveling direction of the substrate.

20 is a cross-sectional view along a plane perpendicular to the moving direction of the substrate, showing how a coating film is formed on the substrate in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

21A is a plan view of a first plate constituting a limiting unit in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. 21B is a plan view of a second plate constituting a limiting unit in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. Fig. 21C is a cross-sectional view of the first sheet material and the second sheet material along the line 21C-21C of Fig. 21A and Fig. 21B .

22 is an enlarged perspective view showing cutouts formed on the support table for holding the restricting portion at a predetermined position in the restricting unit of the vapor deposition device according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

23A is a front view of a restricting unit held by a support table in the restricting unit of the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. 23B is a cross-sectional view of the restricting portion of the plane taken along line 23B-23B in FIG. 23A .

24 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a vapor deposition material adheres to a restricting portion of a restricting unit in the vapor deposition device according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

25A is a front view showing one step of replacing a plate material constituting a limiting unit in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. Fig. 25B is a cross-sectional view of the restricting portion along the line 25B-25B of Fig. 25A .

26A is a front view showing one step of replacing a plate material constituting a limiting unit in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. Fig. 26B is a cross-sectional view of the restricting portion on the plane taken along the line 26B-26B of Fig. 26A.

27A is a front view showing one step of replacing a plate material constituting a limiting unit in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. Fig. 27B is a cross-sectional view of the restricting portion along the line 27B-27B of Fig. 27A .

Detailed ways

The vapor deposition device of the present invention is characterized in that the vapor deposition device is a vapor deposition device for forming a coating film in a predetermined pattern on a substrate, and the vapor deposition device includes: a vapor deposition unit including a vapor deposition source, a vapor deposition A mask and a restricting unit, the vapor deposition source has at least one vapor deposition source opening, the vapor deposition mask is arranged between the at least one vapor deposition source opening and the substrate, and the restricting unit is arranged in the at least one vapor deposition source opening. Between the plating source opening and the above-mentioned evaporation mask and along the first direction perpendicular to the normal line of the above-mentioned substrate, a plurality of restricting parts are arranged; In the state of keeping a certain distance, make one of the above-mentioned substrate and the above-mentioned evaporation unit, along the second direction perpendicular to the normal direction of the above-mentioned substrate and the above-mentioned first direction, relative to the above-mentioned substrate and one of the above-mentioned evaporation units. Another relative movement, the above-mentioned vapor deposition device releases from the above-mentioned at least one vapor-deposition source opening, and passes through a plurality of restriction openings separated by the above-mentioned plurality of restriction parts and a plurality of masks formed on the above-mentioned evaporation mask. The vapor deposition particles in the openings are attached to the substrate to form the coating film, and the limiting unit includes a plurality of stacked plates.

Preferably, at least the plurality of restricting portions in the restricting unit include a plurality of stacked plate materials.

In the vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention described above, it is preferable that the plurality of plates are stacked in a normal direction to the substrate. In this case, it is preferable that a plurality of through-holes constituting the plurality of restriction openings are formed in each of the plurality of plate materials. Accordingly, when the vapor deposition material adheres to the limiting unit, only the plate material closest to the vapor deposition source with the largest amount of vapor deposition material adhered can be removed. As a result, maintenance of the limiting unit can be performed easily and in a short time.

Among the above, it is preferable that the vapor deposition method of the present invention further comprises: removing the plate with the above-mentioned vapor deposition particles that is closest to the above-mentioned vapor deposition source among the above-mentioned plurality of plates; In different positions, the process of adding clean plates to the above-mentioned restriction unit. Since the sheet material adhered to the vapor deposition material is removed from the restricting unit and a clean sheet is added instead, maintenance of the restricting unit can be performed easily and in a short time while maintaining the function of the restricting unit. In addition, since a clean plate is added at a position different from the position where the plate with the vapor deposition material was present, it is possible to make each of the plurality of plates within the limiting unit until the vapor deposition material is attached and taken out. The period of use becomes longer.

In addition, in the present invention, "clean" means that no vapor deposition material is attached.

Among the above, it is preferable to laminate a clean sheet on the surface of the sheet closest to the deposition mask among the plurality of sheets on the deposition mask side. Thereby, all of the plurality of plate materials constituting the restricting unit can be made to have approximately the same period of use in the restricting unit.

Alternatively, the vapor deposition method of the present invention may further include the following steps: remove the plate with the vapor deposition particles attached to only one surface of the plurality of plates closest to the vapor deposition source, reverse the plate, and Where the positions of the removed plates are different, the plates are added to the restricting means. That is, when the vapor deposition material adheres to only one surface of the plate, the plate is not removed, but turned upside down and used in the confining unit. Therefore, since the replacement frequency of a board|plate can be reduced, the productivity of an apparatus can be improved.

Among the above, it is preferable to stack the sheet material with the vapor deposition material attached to only one surface on the surface of the sheet material closest to the vapor deposition mask among the plurality of sheet materials on the vapor deposition mask side. Thereby, all of the plurality of plate materials constituting the restricting unit can be made to have approximately the same period of use in the restricting unit.

Among the above, it is preferable that the vapor deposition method of the present invention further comprises: a step of removing, among the plurality of plates, the plate closest to the vapor deposition source and having the vapor deposition particles attached to both sides; The process of adding a clean plate to the above-mentioned restricting unit at different positions. That is, when the vapor deposition material adheres to both surfaces of the plate, the plate is removed from the restricting unit, and a clean plate is added instead. Therefore, since the replacement frequency of a board|plate can be reduced, the productivity of an apparatus can be improved. In addition, since a clean plate is added at a position different from the position where the plate with the vapor deposition material attached to both sides was present, it is possible to limit the number of each of the plurality of plates until the vapor deposition material is attached and taken out. The period of use becomes longer.

Among the above, it is preferable to laminate a clean sheet on the surface of the sheet closest to the deposition mask among the plurality of sheets on the deposition mask side. Thereby, all of the plurality of plate materials constituting the restricting unit can be made to have approximately the same period of use in the restricting unit.

In the vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention described above, it is preferable that the plurality of through-holes formed in each of the plurality of plate materials include a plurality of types of through-holes having different opening widths. In this case, it is preferable that the plurality of types of through-holes having different opening widths communicate in the normal direction of the substrate to form the plurality of restricted openings. Accordingly, it is possible to form a restricted opening whose opening width changes along the normal direction of the substrate.

Among the above, preferably, the opening widths of the plurality of types of through-holes communicating in the normal direction of the substrate become larger as approaching the vapor deposition mask from the vapor deposition source opening. Thus, when the vapor deposition source is arranged below the substrate, even if the vapor deposition material attached to the inner peripheral surface of the through hole of the plate close to the vapor deposition mask is peeled off, the vapor deposition material can be prevented from falling onto the vapor deposition surface. plating source.

Among the above, it is preferable that the vapor deposition particles released from the vapor deposition source opening adhere only to the inner peripheral surfaces of the plurality of types of through-holes communicating in the normal direction of the substrate, which are closest to the vapor deposition source. The inner peripheral surface of the above-mentioned through-hole opening. As a result, only the plate material closest to the vapor deposition source can be removed to obtain a restricted opening in which no vapor deposition material adheres to the inner peripheral surface.

In the above, preferably, in each of the plurality of plate materials, the plurality of types of through-holes having different opening widths are arranged in a direction parallel to the second direction. In this way, even if the plate to which the vapor deposition material is attached is replaced (or moved), at any position in the second direction, a plurality of types of through-holes can be formed with opening widths increasing from the vapor deposition source opening to the vapor deposition mask. And become larger in the way of the restricted opening of the communication.

Among the above, it is preferred that the vapor deposition method of the present invention further includes: removing the plate with the vapor deposition particles attached thereto that is closest to the vapor deposition source among the plurality of plates, and at a position different from the removed plate. position, a step of adding a sheet material to the restriction unit; and a step of moving one of the vapor deposition source opening and the restriction unit relative to the other along the second direction. Thereby, it is possible to always arrange the restriction opening in which a plurality of types of through-holes communicate with each other so that the opening width increases as the vapor deposition source opening approaches the vapor deposition mask on the front surface of the vapor deposition source opening. In the above, the sheet material added to the confinement unit may be a clean sheet material, or may be a sheet material removed from a position closest to the vapor deposition source. In the latter case, boards with vapor-deposition materials adhered to both sides are not included. It is preferable that the additional sheet is laminated on the surface of the sheet closest to the deposition mask among the plurality of sheets on the deposition mask side.

In the above-mentioned vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that a part of the plurality of plate materials is shifted in a direction perpendicular to the normal direction of the substrate relative to the other part, so that on the inner peripheral surface of the plurality of restricted openings, Form bumps. By appropriately adjusting the amount of misalignment, the size of the effective region for restricting the opening can be changed to an arbitrary size not larger than the size of the through-hole formed in the plate material. In addition, by appropriately adjusting the positional displacement direction, the shape of the effective region that restricts the opening can be arbitrarily changed. In addition, since the inner peripheral surface that restricts the opening is formed with irregularities, the detached vapor deposition material can be held in the concave portion.

In the above, the above-mentioned plurality of boards may be alternately shifted in opposite directions. As a result, regular unevenness is formed on the inner peripheral surface that limits the opening, which is advantageous for holding the peeled vapor deposition material.

Among the above, it is preferable that the vapor deposition method of the present invention further includes the step of displacing one part of the plurality of plate materials relative to the other part in a direction perpendicular to the normal direction of the substrate, so that within the above-mentioned plurality of restrictions, Concavities and convexities are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the opening. By appropriately adjusting the amount of misalignment, the size of the effective region for restricting the opening can be changed to an arbitrary size not larger than the size of the through-hole formed in the plate material. In addition, by appropriately adjusting the positional displacement direction, the shape of the effective region that restricts the opening can be arbitrarily changed. In addition, since the inner peripheral surface that restricts the opening is formed with irregularities, the detached vapor deposition material can be held in the concave portion.

In the vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention described above, the plurality of plates may be stacked in the first direction. In this case, it is preferable that each of the plurality of restriction portions includes the plurality of plate materials stacked in the first direction. Thereby, it is possible to remove only the two outermost sheet materials with the largest deposition amount of vapor deposition material among the plurality of sheet materials stacked in the first direction. As a result, maintenance of the limiting unit can be performed easily and in a short time.

Among the above, it is preferable that the vapor deposition method of the present invention further includes: a step of removing a pair of outermost plate materials to which the vapor deposition particles are adhered among the plurality of plate materials constituting each of the plurality of restrictive portions; and The process of inserting an overlapping pair of panels between the above-mentioned plurality of panels. Since the plate to which the vapor deposition material adhered is removed and a pair of plates is inserted between the remaining plates, maintenance of the confinement unit can be performed easily and in a short time while maintaining the function of the confinement unit. In addition, since the plates are inserted at positions other than the outermost layer, it is possible to lengthen the use period of each of the plurality of plates in the confinement unit until the adhered vapor deposition material is removed.

In the above, the pair of sheets to be inserted may be clean sheets, or may be sheets removed from the outermost layer. In the latter case, boards with vapor-deposition materials adhered to both sides are not included. Preferably, the additional pair of boards is inserted at the center of the plurality of boards.

In the vapor deposition method of the present invention described above, it is preferable that the coating film is a light emitting layer of an organic EL element.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail by giving preferred embodiments. However, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. Each of the drawings referred to in the following description simplifies only the main components necessary for describing the present invention among the constituent components of the embodiment of the present invention for convenience of description. Therefore, the present invention may include arbitrary components not shown in the following figures. In addition, the dimensions of the components in the following drawings do not faithfully represent the dimensions of the actual components, the dimensional ratios of the components, and the like.

(Structure of organic EL display device)

An example of an organic EL display device that can be manufactured by applying the present invention will be described. The organic EL display device of this example is a bottom-emission type organic EL display device that takes out light from the TFT substrate side. ) to control the light emission for full-color image display.

First, the overall structure of the organic EL display device described above will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of an organic EL display device. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the structure of pixels constituting the organic EL display device shown in FIG. 1 . 3 is a cross-sectional view of a TFT substrate constituting an organic EL display device taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2 .

As shown in FIG. 1 , an organic EL display device 1 has a structure in which an organic EL element 20 connected to the TFT 12 , an adhesive layer 30 , and a sealing substrate 40 are sequentially provided on a TFT substrate 10 provided with a TFT 12 (see FIG. 3 ). The center of the organic EL display device 1 is a display area 19 for displaying images, and the organic EL elements 20 are arranged in the display area 19 .

The organic EL element 20 is sealed between the pair of substrates 10 and 40 by bonding the TFT substrate 10 on which the organic EL element 20 is laminated to the sealing substrate 40 using the adhesive layer 30 . In this way, the organic EL element 20 is sealed between the TFT substrate 10 and the sealing substrate 40 , thereby preventing oxygen and moisture from entering the organic EL element 20 from the outside.

The TFT substrate 10 includes, for example, a transparent insulating substrate 11 such as a glass substrate as a supporting substrate, as shown in FIG. 3 . However, in a top emission type organic EL display device, the insulating substrate 11 does not need to be transparent.

On the insulating substrate 11, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of wirings 14 are provided. The plurality of wirings 14 include a plurality of gate lines laid in the horizontal direction and a plurality of gate lines laid in the vertical direction and intersecting the gate lines. a signal line. A gate line driver circuit (not shown) that drives the gate lines is connected to the gate lines, and a signal line driver circuit (not shown) that drives the signal lines is connected to the signal lines. Sub-pixels 2R, 2G, 2B.

Subpixel 2R emits red light, subpixel 2G emits green light, and subpixel 2B emits blue light. Sub-pixels of the same color are arranged in the column direction (vertical direction in FIG. 2 ), and repeating units including sub-pixels 2R, 2G, and 2B are arranged in a row direction (left-right direction in FIG. 2 ). The sub-pixels 2R, 2G, and 2B constituting a repeating unit in the row direction constitute a pixel 2 (ie, one pixel).

Each of the sub-pixels 2R, 2G, and 2B includes a light-emitting layer 23R, 23G, and 23B responsible for light emission of each color. The light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B are extended in stripes in the column direction (vertical direction in FIG. 2 ).

The structure of the TFT substrate 10 will be described.

TFT substrate 10, as shown in FIG. 3, includes TFT 12 (switching element), wiring 14, interlayer film 13 (interlayer insulating film, planarizing film), edge cover 15, etc. on a transparent insulating substrate 11 such as a glass substrate, as shown in FIG. .

The TFT 12 functions as a switching element for controlling light emission of the sub-pixels 2R, 2G, and 2B, and is provided for each of the sub-pixels 2R, 2G, and 2B. TFT 12 is connected to wiring 14 .

The interlayer film 13 also functions as a planarizing film, and is laminated on the entire surface of the display region 19 on the insulating substrate 11 so as to cover the TFT 12 and the wiring 14 .

The first electrode 21 is formed on the interlayer film 13 . The first electrode 21 is electrically connected to the TFT 12 through a contact hole 13 a formed in the interlayer film 13 .

The edge cover 15 is formed on the interlayer film 13 so as to cover the pattern end of the first electrode 21 . The edge cover 15 is an insulating layer for preventing a short circuit between the first electrode 21 and the second electrode 26 constituting the organic EL element 20 due to thinning of the organic EL layer 27 or electric field concentration at the pattern end of the first electrode 21 .

In the edge mask 15 , openings 15R, 15G, and 15B are provided for each sub-pixel 2R, 2G, and 2B. The openings 15R, 15G, and 15B of the edge cover 15 serve as light emitting regions of the sub-pixels 2R, 2G, and 2B. In other words, the respective sub-pixels 2R, 2G, and 2B are separated by the insulating edge cover 15 . The edge cover 15 also functions as an element isolation membrane.

The organic EL element 20 will be described.

The organic EL element 20 is a light-emitting element capable of high-intensity light emission by low-voltage DC driving, and includes a first electrode 21 , an organic EL layer 27 , and a second electrode 26 in this order.

The first electrode 21 is a layer having a function of injecting (suppliing) holes into the organic EL layer 27 . The first electrode 21 is connected to the TFT 12 via the contact hole 13 a as described above.

The organic EL layer 27, as shown in FIG. 3 , between the first electrode 21 and the second electrode 26, sequentially includes a hole injection layer and hole transport layer 22, light emitting layers 23R, 23G from the side of the first electrode 21. , 23B, the electron transport layer 24 and the electron injection layer 25.

In this embodiment, the first electrode 21 is used as an anode, and the second electrode 26 is used as a cathode, but it is also possible to use the first electrode 21 as a cathode and the second electrode 26 as an anode. In this case, the organic EL layer 27 The order of the layers is reversed.

The hole injection layer/hole transport layer 22 has both a function as a hole injection layer and a function as a hole transport layer. The hole injection layer is a layer having a function of improving the hole injection efficiency from the first electrode 21 to the organic EL layer 27 . The hole transport layer is a layer having a function of improving the efficiency of hole transport to the light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B. The hole injection layer and hole transport layer 22 is uniformly formed on the entire surface of the display region 19 of the TFT substrate 10 so as to cover the first electrode 21 and the edge cover 15 .

In this embodiment, the hole injection layer and hole transport layer 22 in which the hole injection layer and the hole transport layer are integrated are provided, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the hole injection layer and the hole transport layer may also be It may be formed as mutually independent layers.

Light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B are formed on the hole injection layer and hole transport layer 22 corresponding to the columns of the sub-pixels 2R, 2G, and 2B so as to cover the openings 15R, 15G, and 15B of the edge cover 15 , respectively. . The light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B are layers having a function of recombining holes injected from the first electrode 21 side and electrons injected from the second electrode 26 side to emit light. The light-emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B each contain a material with high light-emitting efficiency, such as a low-molecular-weight fluorescent dye or a metal complex.

The electron transport layer 24 is a layer having a function of improving electron transport efficiency from the second electrode 26 to the organic EL layer 27 .

The electron injection layer 25 is a layer having a function of improving the efficiency of electron injection from the second electrode 26 to the light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B.

The electron transport layer 24 covers the light emitting layers 23R, 23G, 23B and the hole injection layer and hole transport layer 22, and extends over the TFT on these light emitting layers 23R, 23G, 23B and the hole injection layer and hole transport layer 22. The entire surface of the display region 19 of the substrate 10 is uniformly formed. In addition, the electron injection layer 25 is uniformly formed on the electron transport layer 24 over the entire surface of the display region 19 of the TFT substrate 10 so as to cover the electron transport layer 24 .

In this embodiment, the electron transport layer 24 and the electron injection layer 25 are provided as mutually independent layers, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may also be a single layer in which both are integrated (that is, an electron transport layer and an electron injection layer). injection layer) settings.

The second electrode 26 is a layer having a function of injecting electrons into the organic EL layer 27 . The second electrode 26 is uniformly formed on the electron injection layer 25 over the entire surface of the display region 19 of the TFT substrate 10 so as to cover the electron injection layer 25 .

In addition, organic layers other than the light-emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B are not essential as the organic EL layer 27 , and may be selected according to the required characteristics of the organic EL element 20 . In addition, the organic EL layer 27 may further have a carrier blocking layer as needed. For example, by adding a hole blocking layer as a carrier blocking layer between the light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B and the electron transport layer 24 , leakage of holes to the electron transport layer 24 can be prevented and luminous efficiency can be improved.

(Manufacturing method of organic EL display device)

Next, a method of manufacturing the organic EL display device 1 will be described below.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the manufacturing process of the organic EL display device 1 described above in order of steps.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the manufacturing method of the organic EL display device 1 of the present embodiment includes, for example, a step S1 of manufacturing a TFT substrate and a first electrode, a step S2 of forming a hole injection layer and a hole transport layer, and a step S2 of forming a light emitting layer. Step S3, step S4 of forming an electron transport layer, step S5 of forming an electron injection layer, step S6 of forming a second electrode, and step S7 of sealing.

Hereinafter, each step in FIG. 4 will be described. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, etc. of each component shown below are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In addition, in the present embodiment, the first electrode 21 is used as an anode, and the second electrode 26 is used as a cathode. Conversely, when the first electrode 21 is used as a cathode and the second electrode 26 is used as an anode, the organic EL layer The stacking order of is reversed as described below. Similarly, the materials constituting the first electrode 21 and the second electrode 26 are also reversed from those described below.

First, TFT 12, wiring 14, and the like are formed on insulating substrate 11 by a known method. As the insulating substrate 11 , for example, a transparent glass substrate, a plastic substrate, or the like can be used. In one embodiment, as the insulating substrate 11 , a rectangular-shaped glass plate having a thickness of about 1 mm and a vertical and horizontal dimension of 500×400 mm can be used.

Next, a photosensitive resin is applied on insulating substrate 11 so as to cover TFT 12 and wiring 14 , and patterned by photolithography to form interlayer film 13 . As a material of the interlayer film 13, an insulating material such as an acrylic resin or a polyimide resin can be used, for example. However, polyimide resins are generally opaque and colored. Therefore, when manufacturing the bottom emission type organic EL display device 1 as shown in FIG. 3 , it is preferable to use a transparent resin such as an acrylic resin as the interlayer film 13 . The thickness of the interlayer film 13 is not particularly limited as long as the steps on the upper surface of the TFT 12 can be eliminated. In one embodiment, an acrylic resin can be used to form the interlayer film 13 with a thickness of about 2 μm.

Next, a contact hole 13 a for electrically connecting the first electrode 21 and the TFT 12 is formed in the interlayer film 13 .

Next, the first electrode 21 is formed on the interlayer film 13 . That is, a conductive film (electrode film) is formed on the interlayer film 13 . Next, a photoresist is coated on the conductive film, and after patterning is performed using photolithography technology, the conductive film is etched using ferric chloride as an etchant. Then, the photoresist is stripped using a resist stripping solution, and the substrate is cleaned. Thereby, the matrix-like first electrodes 21 are obtained on the interlayer film 13 .

As the conductive film material used for the first electrode 21, transparent conductive materials such as ITO (Indium TinOxide: indium tin oxide), IZO (Indium Zinc Oxide: indium zinc oxide), and gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO) can be used; Gold (Au), nickel (Ni), platinum (Pt) and other metal materials.

As a lamination method of the conductive film, a sputtering method, a vacuum vapor deposition method, a CVD (chemical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition) method, a plasma CVD method, a printing method, and the like can be used.

In one embodiment, the first electrode 21 can be formed with a thickness of about 100 nm using ITO by a sputtering method.

Next, the edge cover 15 of a predetermined pattern is formed. For the edge cover 15 , for example, the same insulating material as that of the interlayer film 13 can be used, and it can be patterned by the same method as that of the interlayer film 13 . In one embodiment, acrylic resin can be used to form edge mask 15 with a thickness of about 1 μm.

Through the above steps, the TFT substrate 10 and the first electrode 21 are produced (step S1 ).

Next, the TFT substrate 10 that has passed the step S1 is subjected to reduced-pressure baking treatment for dehydration, and further oxygen plasma treatment for cleaning the surface of the first electrode 21 .

Next, on the above-mentioned TFT substrate 10, a hole injection layer and a hole transport layer (in this embodiment, a hole injection layer and a hole transport layer) are formed on the entire surface of the display region 19 of the TFT substrate 10 by vapor deposition. Layer 22) (S2).

Specifically, an open mask with an opening on the entire surface of the display region 19 is closely fixed to the TFT substrate 10, and while the TFT substrate 10 and the open mask are rotated together, the holes pass through the opening of the open mask. Materials for the injection layer and the hole transport layer are vapor-deposited on the entire surface of the display region 19 of the TFT substrate 10 .

The hole injection layer and the hole transport layer may be integrated as described above, or may be separate layers. The thickness of each layer is, for example, 10 to 100 nm.

Examples of materials for the hole injection layer and the hole transport layer include benzyne, styrylamine, triphenylamine, porphyrin, triazole, imidazole, oxadiazole, polyaryl alkane, phenylenediamine, Arylamine, oxazole, anthracene, fluorenone, hydrazone, stilbene, triphenylene, azatriphenylene and their derivatives; polysilane compounds; vinylcarbazole compounds, thiophene compounds, aniline compounds Such heterocyclic or chain conjugated monomers, oligomers or polymers, etc.

In one example, 4,4'-bis[N-(1-naphthyl)-N-phenylamino]biphenyl (α-NPD) can be used to form a hole injection and hole transport layer with a thickness of 30 nm twenty two.

Next, the light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B are formed in stripes on the hole injection layer and hole transport layer 22 so as to cover the openings 15R, 15G, and 15B of the edge cover 15 ( S3 ). The light-emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B are vapor-deposited so as to separately coat predetermined areas for each color of red, green, and blue (separate coating vapor deposition).

As materials for the light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B, materials with high light emitting efficiency, such as low-molecular fluorescent dyes and metal complexes, can be used. Examples include: anthracene, naphthalene, indene, phenanthrene, pyrene, tetracene, triphenylene, anthracene, perylene, perylene, fluoranthene, acephenanthrene, pentacene, pentacene, hexacene, butane ene, coumarin, acridine, stilbene and their derivatives; tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum complexes; bis(hydroxybenzoquinoline) beryllium complexes; tris(dibenzoylmethyl) ) o-diazaphenanthrene europium coordination compound; ditoluoyl vinyl biphenyl, etc.

The light-emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B may include only the above-mentioned organic light-emitting materials, or may include hole transport layer materials, electron transport layer materials, additives (donors, acceptors, etc.), light-emitting dopants, and the like. In addition, a structure in which these materials are dispersed in a polymer material (binding resin) or an inorganic material may also be used. From the viewpoint of improving luminous efficiency and prolonging life, a structure in which a luminescent dopant is dispersed in a host material is preferable.

The thickness of the light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B can be set to, for example, 10 to 100 nm.

The vapor deposition method and vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention can be particularly suitably used for the separate coating vapor deposition of the light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B. The details of the formation method of the light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B using the present invention will be described later.

Next, the electron transport layer 24 is formed on the entire display region 19 of the TFT substrate 10 by a vapor deposition method so as to cover the hole injection layer/hole transport layer 22 and the light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B ( S4 ). The electron transport layer 24 can be formed by the same method as the formation step S2 of the above-mentioned hole injection layer and hole transport layer.

Next, the electron injection layer 25 is formed on the entire surface of the display region 19 of the TFT substrate 10 by a vapor deposition method so as to cover the electron transport layer 24 ( S5 ). The electron injection layer 25 can be formed by the same method as the formation step S2 of the above-mentioned hole injection layer and hole transport layer.

As materials for the electron transport layer 24 and the electron injection layer 25, for example, quinoline, perylene, phenanthrene, bistyryl, pyrazine, triazole, oxazole, oxadiazole, fluorenone, and the like can be used. Derivatives or metal coordination compounds, LiF (lithium fluoride), etc.

As described above, the electron transport layer 24 and the electron injection layer 25 may be formed as an integrated single layer, or may be formed as independent layers. The thickness of each layer is, for example, 1 to 100 nm. In addition, the total thickness of the electron transport layer 24 and the electron injection layer 25 is, for example, 20 to 200 nm.

In one embodiment, Alq (tris(8-quinolinolato)aluminum) can be used to form the electron transport layer 24 with a thickness of 30 nm, and LiF (lithium fluoride) can be used to form the electron injection layer 25 with a thickness of 1 nm.

Next, the second electrode 26 is formed on the entire surface of the display region 19 of the TFT substrate 10 by a vapor deposition method so as to cover the electron injection layer 25 ( S6 ). The second electrode 26 can be formed by the same method as the above-mentioned forming step S2 of the hole injection layer and the hole transport layer. As the material (electrode material) of the second electrode 26 , a metal having a small work function or the like is suitably used. Examples of such electrode materials include magnesium alloys (MgAg, etc.), aluminum alloys (AlLi, AlCa, AlMg, etc.), metallic calcium, and the like. The thickness of the second electrode 26 is, for example, 50 to 100 nm. In one embodiment, aluminum can be used to form the second electrode 26 with a thickness of 50 nm.

In order to prevent oxygen and moisture from entering the organic EL element 20 from the outside, a protective film may be further provided on the second electrode 26 so as to cover the second electrode 26 . As a material of the protective film, an insulating or conductive material can be used, for example, silicon nitride or silicon oxide. The thickness of the protective film is, for example, 100 to 1000 nm.

Through the above steps, the organic EL element 20 including the first electrode 21 , the organic EL layer 27 and the second electrode 26 can be formed on the TFT substrate 10 .

Next, as shown in FIG. 1 , the TFT substrate 10 on which the organic EL element 20 is formed is bonded to the sealing substrate 40 using the adhesive layer 30 to seal the organic EL element 20 . As the sealing substrate 40, an insulating substrate such as a glass substrate or a plastic substrate having a thickness of 0.4 to 1.1 mm can be used, for example.

In this way, the organic EL display device 1 was obtained.

In such an organic EL display device 1 , when the TFT 12 is turned on (ON) by a signal input from the wiring 14 , holes are injected from the first electrode 21 into the organic EL layer 27 . On the other hand, electrons are injected from the second electrode 26 into the organic EL layer 27 . The holes and electrons recombine in the light-emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B, and emit light of a predetermined color when the energy is deactivated. A predetermined image can be displayed on the display area 19 by controlling the emission luminance of each sub-pixel 2R, 2G, and 2B.

Hereinafter, step S3 of forming the light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B by separate coating vapor deposition will be described.

(implementation mode 1)

5 is a perspective view showing the basic configuration of the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a front cross-sectional view of the vapor deposition device shown in FIG. 5 along a surface passing through the vapor deposition source 60 .

The vapor deposition unit 50 includes a vapor deposition source 60, a vapor deposition mask 70, and a limiting unit 80 disposed therebetween. The substrate 10 moves at a constant speed along the arrow 10 a on the side opposite to the vapor deposition source 60 with respect to the vapor deposition mask 70 . For the convenience of the following description, it is assumed that the horizontal axis parallel to the moving direction 10a of the substrate 10 is the Y axis, the horizontal axis perpendicular to the Y axis is the X axis, and the vertical axis perpendicular to the X axis and the Y axis It is the XYZ orthogonal coordinate system of the Z axis. The Z axis is parallel to the normal direction of the surface to be vapor-deposited 10 e of the substrate 10 . For convenience of description, the arrow side in the Z-axis direction (upper side in FIG. 6 ) is referred to as “upper side”.

The vapor deposition source 60 has a plurality of vapor deposition source openings 61 on its upper surface (ie, the surface facing the vapor deposition mask 70 ). The plurality of vapor deposition source openings 61 are arranged at regular intervals along a straight line parallel to the X-axis direction (first direction). Each vapor deposition source opening 61 has a nozzle shape that opens upward parallel to the Z axis, and discharges vapor deposition particles 91 that are a material of coating film 90 to vapor deposition mask 70 .

The vapor deposition mask 70 is a plate whose principal surface (surface with the largest area) is parallel to the XY plane, and a plurality of mask openings 71 are formed at different positions in the X-axis direction along the X-axis direction. The mask opening 71 is a through hole penetrating through the vapor deposition mask 70 in the Z-axis direction. In the present embodiment, the opening shape of each mask opening 71 has a slit shape parallel to the Y-axis, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The shape and size of all mask openings 71 may be the same or different. The distance in the X-axis direction of the mask openings 71 may be constant or different.

Preferably, the vapor deposition mask 70 is held by a mask tension mechanism not shown. The mask tension mechanism prevents the vapor deposition mask 70 from bending and elongating due to its own weight by applying tension to the vapor deposition mask 70 in a direction parallel to its main surface.

A restricting unit 80 is arranged between the vapor deposition source opening 61 and the vapor deposition mask 70 . The restricting unit 80 is formed with a plurality of restricting openings 82 each of which is a through hole penetrating the restricting unit 80 in the Z-axis direction. The plurality of restriction openings 82 are arranged at regular intervals along the X-axis direction. The restriction openings 82 adjacent in the X-axis direction are partitioned by the restriction portion 81 .

The restricting unit 80 includes five plate materials 811 to 815 of the same shape and the same size stacked in the Z-axis direction. A plurality of through-holes of the same size are formed at the same position on each of the plate materials 811 to 815 . By laminating the plates 811 to 815 , the through-holes formed in the plates 811 to 815 communicate in the Z-axis direction, thereby constituting the restricting opening 82 of the restricting unit 80 . The five plates 811 to 815 are placed on the support table 85 superior. The support stand 85 has a substantially rectangular frame shape when viewed from the Z-axis direction, and supports the outer peripheral ends of the plates 811 to 815 . In addition, the number of plates constituting the restricting unit 80 is not limited to five, and may be more or less than that.

In order to prevent the attached evaporation material from re-evaporating or the like, the confinement unit 80 may include cooling means for cooling the confinement unit 80 . The cooling device is not particularly limited, and for example, pipes through which a refrigerant (for example, water) passes, cooling elements such as Peltier elements, and the like can be arbitrarily selected.

In the present embodiment, one vapor deposition source opening 61 is arranged at the center of the adjacent restricting portion 81 in the X-axis direction. Therefore, the evaporation source opening 61 corresponds to the restriction opening 82 one-to-one. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a plurality of restriction openings 82 may be configured to correspond to one vapor deposition source opening 61 , or one restriction opening 82 may be configured to correspond to a plurality of deposition source openings 61 . In the present invention, “the restriction opening 82 corresponding to the deposition source opening 61 ” refers to the restriction opening 82 designed so that the deposition particles 91 emitted from the deposition source opening 61 can pass through.

In FIGS. 5 and 6 , the number of vapor deposition source openings 61 and limiting openings 82 is eight, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be more or less than this.

The vapor deposition source opening 61 is separated from the restricting portion 81 in the Z-axis direction, and the restricting portion 81 is separated from the vapor deposition mask 70 in the Z-axis direction. It is preferable that the relative positions of the vapor deposition source 60 , the limiting unit 80 , and the vapor deposition mask 70 are substantially constant at least during the period of performing the separate coating vapor deposition.

The substrate 10 is held by the holding device 55 . As the holding device 55 , for example, an electrostatic chuck that holds the surface of the substrate 10 opposite to the surface to be vapor-deposited 10 e by electrostatic force can be used. Thereby, the substrate 10 can be held in a state in which the substrate 10 is substantially free from bending due to its own weight. However, the holding device 55 holding the substrate 10 is not limited to the electrostatic chuck, and other devices may be used.

The substrate 10 held by the holding device 55 moves at a constant speed on the side opposite to the vapor deposition source 60 with respect to the vapor deposition mask 70 with a certain distance from the vapor deposition mask 70 by the moving mechanism 56 . It is scanned (moved) in a movement direction 10a parallel to the Y axis. The movement of the substrate 10 may be a reciprocating movement, or may be a unidirectional movement in either direction. The structure of the moving mechanism 56 is not particularly limited. For example, a known conveyance drive mechanism such as a feed screw mechanism that rotates a feed screw by a motor or a linear motor can be used.

The vapor deposition unit 50 , the substrate 10 , the holding device 55 for holding the substrate 10 , and the moving mechanism 56 for moving the substrate 10 are accommodated in a vapor deposition chamber 100 (see FIG. 12 described later). The vapor deposition chamber is a sealed container, and its internal space is decompressed to maintain a predetermined low pressure state.

The vapor deposition particles 91 released from the vapor deposition source opening 61 pass through the restriction opening 82 of the restriction unit 80 and the mask opening 71 of the vapor deposition mask 70 in sequence. The vapor deposition particles 91 passing through the mask opening 71 adhere to the vapor-deposited surface (that is, the surface of the substrate 10 opposite to the vapor deposition mask 70 ) 10 e of the substrate 10 traveling in the Y-axis direction to form a coating film 90 . . The coating 90 has a strip shape extending in the Y-axis direction.

The vapor deposition particles 91 forming the coating film 90 must pass through the restriction opening 82 and the mask opening 71 . The limiting unit 80 and the evaporation mask 70 are designed so that the evaporation particles 91 released from the evaporation source opening 61 will not reach the evaporated surface 10e of the substrate 10 without passing through the limiting opening 82 and the mask opening 71, and further An antiadhesion plate or the like (not shown) that prevents flying of vapor deposition particles 91 is provided as necessary.

By changing the material of the evaporation particles 91 according to the colors of red, green, and blue and performing evaporation (separate coating evaporation) three times, it is possible to form red, green, and blue particles on the surface to be evaporated 10e of the substrate 10. Stripe-shaped coatings 90 corresponding to the respective colors (that is, light emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B).

According to Embodiment 1, since the substrate 10 moves in the moving direction 10 a relative to the vapor deposition unit 50 including the vapor deposition mask 70 , the dimension Lm of the vapor deposition mask 70 in the moving direction 10 a of the substrate 10 can be compared with the substrate 10 . The size of 10 in the same direction is set regardless. Therefore, a vapor deposition mask 70 smaller than the substrate 10 can be used. Therefore, even if the size of the substrate 10 is increased, the evaporation mask 70 does not need to be increased in size, so the possibility that the bending and elongation of the evaporation mask 70 due to its own weight will become a problem is low. In addition, the vapor deposition mask 70, the frame holding it, and the like do not become larger or heavier. Therefore, it is possible to easily perform separate coating vapor deposition on a large substrate.

Next, the action of the restricting portion 81 of the restricting unit 80 will be described.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a comparative vapor deposition device in which the confinement unit 80 is omitted from the vapor deposition device according to Embodiment 1, similarly to FIG. 6 . In FIG. 7 , illustration of the holding device 55 and the moving mechanism 56 is omitted for simplification of the drawing. The vapor deposition particles 91 are ejected from the vapor deposition source opening 61 with a certain spread (directivity) in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. In Embodiment 1, the vapor deposition source opening 61 opens in a direction parallel to the Z axis. The number of vapor deposition particles 91 released from the vapor deposition source opening 61 is the largest in the opening direction of the vapor deposition source opening 61 (in this example, the Z-axis direction), and as the angle relative to the opening direction (exit angle) increase and gradually decrease. The vapor deposition particles 91 discharged from the vapor deposition source opening 61 travel straight in the respective discharge directions. In FIG. 7 , the particle flow of vapor deposition particles 91 released from vapor deposition source opening 61 is conceptually shown by arrows. The length of the arrow corresponds to the number of vapor deposition particles 91 . Therefore, the vapor deposition particles 91 released from the vapor deposition source opening 61 directly below the mask opening 71 fly the most, but it is not limited thereto. The vapor deposition particles 91 also fly.

FIG. 8 is a view of the coating film 90 formed on the substrate 10 by vapor deposition particles 91 passing through a certain mask opening 71 in the vapor deposition device of the comparative example in FIG. cross-sectional view. Since it is necessary to move the substrate 10 relative to the vapor deposition mask 70 , there is a gap between the substrate 10 and the vapor deposition mask 70 . In this state, vapor deposition particles 91 flying from various directions pass through mask opening 71 as described above. The number of vapor deposition particles 91 reaching the vapor deposition surface 10 e of the substrate 10 is the largest in the region directly above the mask opening 71 , and gradually decreases as the distance from this region increases. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8 , on the vapor-deposited surface 10 e of the substrate 10 , in the region where the mask opening 71 is projected directly upward on the substrate 10 , a thick and substantially constant coating film main portion 90 m is formed. , forming a blurred (burr) portion 90e that gradually becomes thinner as it moves away from the film main portion 90m on both sides thereof. This blurred portion 90 e blurs the edge of the coating 90 .

In order to reduce the width We of the blurred portion 90e, it is only necessary to reduce the distance between the vapor deposition mask 70 and the substrate 10 . However, since it is necessary to move the substrate 10 relative to the vapor deposition mask 70 , the distance between the vapor deposition mask 70 and the substrate 10 cannot be made zero.

When the width We of the blurred portion 90e increases and the blurred portion 90e reaches the adjacent light-emitting layer region of a different color, “color mixing” occurs, or the characteristics of the organic EL element deteriorate. In order not to cause color mixing, and to prevent the blurred part 90e from reaching adjacent light-emitting layer regions of different colors, it is necessary to narrow the opening width of the pixel (referring to the sub-pixels 2R, 2G, and 2B in FIG. The pitch is increased to increase the non-luminous area. However, when the aperture width of the pixel is narrowed, the light-emitting area becomes small, so the luminance decreases. When the current density is increased in order to obtain the required luminance, the life of the organic EL element is shortened, or it is easily damaged, and the reliability decreases. On the other hand, when the pixel pitch is increased, high-definition display cannot be realized, and the display quality deteriorates.

On the other hand, in Embodiment 1, as shown in FIG. 6 , a limiting unit 80 is provided between the vapor deposition source 60 and the vapor deposition mask 70 .

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view along a plane parallel to the XZ plane, showing how the coating film 90 is formed on the substrate 10 in the first embodiment. In this example, one vapor deposition source opening 61 is arranged for one restricting opening 82 , and the vapor deposition source opening 61 is arranged at the center of a pair of adjacent restricting portions 81 in the X-axis direction. A typical flying path of vapor deposition particles 91 emitted from vapor deposition source opening 61 is indicated by a dotted line. Among the vapor deposition particles 91 released from the vapor deposition source opening 61 with a certain spread (directivity), the vapor deposition particles 91 passing through the restriction opening 82 directly above the vapor deposition source opening 61 and further passing through the mask opening 71, The coating film 90 is formed by adhering on the substrate 10 . On the other hand, vapor deposition particles 91 having a velocity vector with a large X-axis direction component collide with and adhere to restricting portion 81 defining restricting opening 82 , so cannot pass through restricting opening 82 and cannot reach mask opening 71 .

In this way, the restricting portion 81 restricts the incident angle of the vapor deposition particles 91 entering the mask opening 71 (or the substrate 10 ) in the X-axis direction. Here, the "incident angle in the X-axis direction" with respect to the mask opening 71 (or the substrate 10 ) is defined as the angle of the vapor deposition particles 91 incident to the mask opening 71 (or the substrate 10 ) in the projection view on the XZ plane. The flying direction is defined by the angle relative to the Z axis.

In this manner, the plurality of restricting portions 81 of the restricting unit 80 improves the directivity in the X-axis direction of the vapor deposition particles 91 incident on the substrate 10 . In other words, the plurality of restricting portions 81 selects the vapor deposition source opening 61 from among the plurality of vapor deposition source openings 61 to discharge the vapor deposition particles 91 passing through the respective mask openings 71 . Therefore, the width We of the blurred portion 90e formed by the vapor deposition particles 91 can be reduced.

In addition, since the support table 85 (see FIG. 6 ) is arranged around the restriction unit 80 , the support table 85 does not restrict the incident angle of the vapor deposition particles 91 entering the mask opening 71 in the X-axis direction.

It is preferable that all the vapor deposition particles 91 incident on the respective mask openings 71 are limited to the vapor deposition particles released from the same vapor deposition source opening 61 . That is, it is preferable that vapor deposition particles 91 discharged from different vapor deposition source openings 61 do not enter the same mask opening 71 . Thus, the width We of the blurred portion 90e can be further reduced.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, even when the substrate 10 is separated from the vapor deposition mask 70 , the width We of the blurred portion 90 e at the edge of the coating film 90 formed on the substrate 10 can be reduced. Therefore, if the light-emitting layers 23R, 23G, and 23B are separately coated and vapor-deposited using Embodiment 1, color mixing can be prevented from occurring. Therefore, the pixel pitch can be reduced, and in this case, an organic EL display device capable of high-definition display can be provided. On the other hand, the light-emitting area may be enlarged without changing the pixel pitch, and in this case, an organic EL display device capable of high-brightness display can be provided. In addition, since there is no need to increase the current density in order to increase the luminance, the organic EL element can be prevented from being shortened in life or damaged, and a decrease in reliability can be prevented.

However, as can be easily understood from FIG. 9, when the coating film 90 is continuously formed on the substrate 10 for a long period of time using the vapor deposition apparatus of Embodiment 1, as shown in FIG. 81 is captured and deposited thereon, whereby vapor deposition material 95 adheres to restricting portion 81 . Although it varies depending on the relative positional relationship between the vapor deposition source opening 61 and the restricting part 81, etc., the vapor deposition material 95 mainly adheres to the lower surface (the surface opposite to the vapor deposition source 60) 83 of the restricting part 81 and/or restricts The side surface (the surface opposite to the restricting part 81 adjacent in the X-axis direction) 84 of the part 81 . In terms of the amount of vapor deposition material 95 adhered to the restricting portion 81, generally, the more the above-mentioned restricting portion 81 improves the incident angle restricting function of the vapor deposition particles 91 in the X-axis direction, that is, the more the blurred portion 90e is reduced. The width We decreases, the more it increases.

When the deposition amount of vapor deposition material 95 adhering to restricting portion 81 increases, vapor deposition material 95 peels off and falls, contaminating the inside of the vapor deposition apparatus. When the peeled vapor deposition material 95 falls onto the vapor deposition source 60 , the vapor deposition material is heated and re-evaporated, and adheres to an undesired position on the substrate 10 to lower the yield. Also, when the peeled vapor deposition material falls onto the vapor deposition source opening 61 , the vapor deposition source opening 61 is clogged with the vapor deposition material, and the coating film 90 cannot be formed at a desired position on the substrate 10 .

Therefore, it is necessary to periodically maintain the limiting unit 80 so that the deposited amount of the vapor deposition material 95 does not exceed a predetermined amount.

Hereinafter, a maintenance method for the limiting unit 80 in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 1 will be described.

11A to 11D are diagrams sequentially showing the replacement procedure of the plate materials 811 to 815 constituting the limiting unit 80 in the vapor deposition apparatus according to the first embodiment. In these figures, illustration of the restricting portion 81 and the restricting opening 82 of the restricting unit 80 is omitted in order to simplify the drawing. In addition, illustration of components other than the restricting unit 80 is also omitted.

As shown in FIG. 11A , five plate materials 811 to 815 are stacked sequentially from the lower side (the vapor deposition source 60 side) to the upper side (the substrate 10 side). These five plate materials 811 to 815 are mounted on the support stand 85 . Both ends in the X-axis direction of each of the plates 811 to 815 are processed to be thin, and steps are formed on the lower surface side. When vapor deposition is performed in the state of FIG. 11A , as described in FIG. 10 , vapor deposition material 95 adheres to the lower surface (surface facing vapor deposition source 60 ) of lowermost plate material 811 .

When the vapor deposition material 95 of a predetermined thickness is deposited, the vapor deposition is stopped. Then, as shown in FIG. 11B , the temporary holding arm 802 is engaged with the steps at both ends of the plate 812, leaving the bottom plate 811, and the plates 812 to 815 of the second or more layers from the lower side are lifted upward. . Then, the replacement arm 801 is engaged with the step of the lowermost plate 811 to remove the plate 811 from the support stand 85 . The removed plate material 811 is carried out to the outside of the vapor deposition chamber and cleaned to remove the deposited vapor deposition material 95 . The vapor deposition material 95 can be recovered and reused as necessary.

Next, as shown in FIG. 11C , the cleaned sheet 816 is carried into the vapor deposition chamber by the replacement arm 801 and placed on the uppermost sheet 815 .

Next, as shown in FIG. 11D , five plates 812 , 813 , 814 , 815 , and 816 stacked from the lower side (deposition source 60 side) to the upper side (substrate 10 side) are lowered onto the support table 85 . Then, the engagement between the temporary holding arm 802 and the plate material 812 is released, and the temporary holding arm 802 is evacuated and waited.

Through the above steps, the maintenance of the restriction unit 80 is completed. Then, vapor deposition was started again.

Afterwards, when a predetermined amount of vapor deposition material 95 adheres to the lower surface of the lowermost plate, the vapor deposition is interrupted, and the lowermost plate is removed in the same manner as in FIG. 11A to FIG. on the top plate. The plates constituting the restricting unit 80 are sequentially moved downward one layer each time the restricting unit 80 is maintained. The total number of plates constituting the limiting unit 80 is always constant. Since the thickness (dimension in the Z-axis direction) of each plate is the same, the thickness (dimension in the Z-axis direction) of the restricting portion 81 remains constant even if the plate is replaced.

As can be understood from the description of FIG. 9 , in order to make only the vapor deposition particles 91 released from the desired vapor deposition source openings 61 enter each mask opening 71 , it is necessary to make the restricting unit 80 (especially the restricting portion 81 thereof) face each other. Positional alignment is accurately performed on the vapor deposition source opening 61 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.

Therefore, in FIG. 11C , it is preferable that the clean sheet 816 added on top of the uppermost sheet 815 be accurately aligned. The alignment of the plate 816 can be performed, for example, using the arm 801 for replacement when the plate 816 is placed on the uppermost plate 815 .

In addition, in FIG. 11D , it is preferable that five plate materials 812 , 813 , 814 , 815 , and 816 placed on the support stand 85 are accurately aligned. This alignment can be performed, for example, using the temporary holding arm 802 before placing the five plate materials 812, 813, 814, 815, 816 on the support table 85, or by placing the five plate materials 812, 813, 814, 815, 816 is carried out by moving the support stand 85 after being placed on the support stand 85 .

A position adjustment mechanism for performing each of the above-mentioned alignments may be provided on the replacement arm 801 , the temporary holding arm 802 , and the support stand 85 as needed. Of course, in the case where the positional change of the restricting portion 81 and the restricting opening 82 due to the replacement of the plate material is negligibly small, the above-mentioned alignment is unnecessary. For example, it is possible to provide a positioning mechanism that automatically aligns a plurality of plate materials with respect to the support table 85 . Specifically, the upper surface of the support table 85 and the upper and lower surfaces of each plate may be formed into mutually fitting shapes (for example, a concave portion and a convex portion having a conical surface). Positional alignment between parts.

FIG. 12 shows an overall configuration of an example of a vapor deposition system including a vapor deposition device and a regeneration system of the limiting unit 80 .

In the vapor deposition chamber 100 , a coating film is formed on the substrate 10 using the vapor deposition unit 50 . The transfer chamber 103 is connected to the vapor deposition chamber 100 through an openable and closable door 105 . The replacement arm 801 is accommodated in the transfer chamber 103 . The replacement arm 801 has a locking portion having, for example, a substantially U-shape. It is preferable that the transfer chamber 103 is maintained at the same low pressure as that of the vapor deposition chamber 100 . The first load lock chamber 101 and the second load lock chamber 102 are connected to the transfer chamber 103 through openable and closable openings 106 and 107, respectively.

In the first load lock chamber 101 , a clean sheet material 810 constituting the confinement unit 80 and a used sheet material 819 taken out from the evaporation chamber 100 and to which the evaporation material 95 is attached are accommodated. The transport of the plate 819 with the vapor deposition material 95 attached thereto from the vapor deposition chamber 100 to the first load lock chamber 101 and the transport of the clean plate 810 from the first load lock chamber 101 to the vapor deposition chamber 100, This is performed through the transfer chamber 103 using the replacement arm 801 . The removal of the evaporated material 95 from the sheet 819 is performed inside the first load lock chamber 101 or outside the first load lock chamber 101 . The sheet material from which the vapor deposition material 95 has been removed is stored in the first load lock chamber 101 as a clean sheet material 810 .

The substrate 10 after vapor deposition or before vapor deposition, and various vapor deposition masks 70 are accommodated in the second load lock chamber 102 . The transfer of the substrate 10 before evaporation from the second load-lock chamber 102 to the evaporation chamber 100 and the transfer of the substrate 10 after evaporation from the evaporation chamber 100 to the second load-lock chamber 102 use The arm 801 for replacement is performed through the transfer chamber 103 . The vapor deposition mask 70 is appropriately selected according to the pattern of the coating film to be formed on the substrate 10 . The replacement of the deposition mask 70 is performed between the deposition chamber 100 and the second load lock chamber 102 through the transfer chamber 103 using the replacement arm 801 .

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the restricting unit 80 includes a plurality of plates stacked in the vertical direction, so that only the bottom plate to which the vapor deposition material 95 is attached is taken out, and the clean plates are stacked. The maintenance of the confinement unit 80 is complete once the layer is placed on the uppermost panel.

In order for the restricting part 81 to exhibit the function of restricting the incident angle of the vapor deposition particles 91 in the X-axis direction described with reference to FIG. 9 , there is a lower limit to the size of the restricting part 81 in the Z-axis direction. In addition, when the restricting portion 81 is displaced in the Z-axis direction due to bending due to its own weight, etc., the incident angle restricting function described above cannot be performed. Therefore, the restricting unit 80 including the restricting portion 81 is desirably rigid. Therefore, it is difficult to make the restriction unit 80 thinner. If such a restricting unit 80 is not composed of a plurality of separable plates as in Embodiment 1, but is constituted by an integrated restricting unit including one integrated member, the integrated restricting unit will be thick and heavy. When the vapor deposition material adheres to the integrated restricting unit, the entire integrated restricting unit must be replaced, and maintenance work becomes complicated.

Compared with the case of using such an integral type restricting unit, the first embodiment using the restricting unit 80 including a plurality of stacked plate materials can obtain the following effects.

In Embodiment 1, when the vapor deposition material adheres to the limiting unit 80 , it is sufficient to replace only one of the plurality of plate materials constituting the limiting unit 80 . Only one sheet that is thin and light needs to be moved, and therefore, the components for conveying the sheet do not need to have a relatively large withstand load. For example, as described in FIG. 12 , the plate material can be exchanged using an existing exchange arm 801 that transports the substrate 10 and the deposition mask 70 . Therefore, it is possible to reduce cost increase of vapor deposition facilities.

In addition, since it is only necessary to transport a thin and light plate using the small and simple replacement arm 801, it is not necessary to open the vapor deposition chamber 100 to return the interior of the vapor deposition chamber 100 to atmospheric pressure in order to replace the plate. . For example, as in the case of replacing the substrate 10 and the deposition mask 70 , in FIG. 12 , only the door 105 between the deposition chamber 100 and the transfer chamber 101 can be opened to replace the sheet. Therefore, there is no need to stop the vapor deposition for a long time to limit the maintenance of the unit 80 (that is, to replace the plate material), and thus the productivity of the vapor deposition apparatus is improved.

In addition, the work of removing the attached vapor deposition material is particularly easy when it is performed on a thin and light plate material, compared to when it is performed on a thick and heavy integral-type confinement unit. In addition, the equipment required for this purpose also needs to be small in size. In addition, the first load-lock chamber 101 for storing clean sheet materials can also be downsized. Therefore, vapor deposition costs and facility costs can be reduced in these respects as well.

Since the maintenance of the limiting unit 80 is easy, the frequency of maintenance can be increased without causing an increase in vapor deposition costs and a decrease in productivity. Thereby, peeling and falling of the vapor deposition material adhering to the plate can be reliably prevented, and thus the yield and quality of the organic EL element can be improved.

In the example described above, the temporary holding arm 802 described in FIGS. 11A to 11D is used in order to replace the plate material. It is sufficient for the temporary holding arm 802 to include a mechanism for holding and raising and lowering a plurality of panels, and a mechanism for finely adjusting positions in the X-axis direction and Y-axis direction of the panels as needed. The temporary holding arm 802 does not need to also hold the support stand 85 on which a plurality of boards are placed. That is, the temporary holding arm 802 does not require a mechanism for moving a plurality of boards over a long distance and mechanical strength for holding a heavy object. Therefore, there is little increase in the size and cost of the vapor deposition apparatus due to provision of the temporary holding arm 802 . In addition, it is easy to increase the rigidity of such a temporary holding arm 802 , and therefore, it is possible to reduce positional displacement of the restricting portion 81 and the restricting opening 82 accompanying replacement of the plate material.

When replacing the sheet, the sheet must be accurately aligned in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. In this embodiment, if the temporary holding arm 802 can raise and lower a plurality of plates without displacement in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, only one clean plate (the plate 816 in FIG. 11C ) needs to be accurately positioned. It is enough on the top sheet. The positioning of a thin and light board is particularly easy compared to the positioning of a thick and heavy integral restraining unit, and the positioning accuracy can be easily improved. In addition, if a positioning mechanism for automatically aligning the boards is provided when the boards are stacked as described above, the positioning work can be further simplified or omitted.

Each plate constituting the restricting unit 80 is thin, so its processing is easy. For example, in terms of processing for forming the through hole for restricting the opening 82, it is particularly easy and low-cost to carry out the case of a thin plate material compared with the case of performing a thick integral type restriction unit. Precision.

The limiting unit 80 is heated by the radiant heat from the vapor deposition source 60 . The integrated confinement unit has a large heat capacity. Therefore, when the entire confinement unit is replaced, it takes a long time until the temperature of the confinement unit stabilizes. During this period, vapor deposition may not start. On the other hand, in Embodiment 1, since the heat capacity of one plate is small, it takes a short time until the temperature of the entire restricting unit 80 stabilizes after the plate is replaced. Therefore, this Embodiment 1 can improve the productivity of a vapor deposition apparatus also in this point.

In addition, in this Embodiment 1, since the board|plate material which is the closest to the vapor deposition source 60 and the temperature is heated highest is taken out. The removal of this sheet will have the effect of removing heat from the heated confinement unit 80 . Therefore, cooling of the restricting unit 80 is facilitated, and distortion and deformation of the restricting portion 81 caused by the restricting portion 81 being heated to a high temperature can be suppressed.

In the present embodiment, when a cooling device for cooling the limiting unit 80 is provided, the installation position is arbitrary. For example, it may be embedded in the support table 85, or may be placed on the uppermost board (the board 815 in FIG. 11A ). When the cooling device is placed on the uppermost board, the cooling device is lifted, and a clean board 916 is inserted between the uppermost board and the cooling device. With the cooling device secured to the uppermost panel, the uppermost panel is lifted together with the cooling device, and a clean panel 916 is inserted on the underside of the uppermost panel.

In addition, a through hole for inserting a cooling device may be formed in each plate material in addition to the through hole for constituting the restricting opening 82 .

In the present embodiment, the boards placed on the uppermost layer are gradually moved downward each time the restriction unit 80 is maintained, and are taken out from the lowermost layer at the same number of maintenances as the number of boards constituting the restriction unit 80 . Therefore, the use period (vapor deposition period) of the plate material until it is taken out is approximately the same for any plate material, and the deposition amount of the vapor deposition material 95 is also approximately the same.

As explained in FIG. 10 , vapor deposition material 95 adheres not only to lower surface 83 of restricting portion 81 but also to side surface 84 . This embodiment can be preferably utilized when the deposition amount of vapor deposition material 95 is relatively larger on lower surface 83 than on side surface 84 .

In the above example, the number of plates constituting the restricting unit 80 is five, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be more or less than this. The number of plates can be appropriately set in consideration of the dimension of the restricting portion 81 in the Z-axis direction, the thickness of one plate, and the like.

In the above example, the clean sheet is stacked on the upper surface of the uppermost sheet, but the clean sheet may be inserted at any position between the uppermost sheet and the lowermost sheet.

The arms 801 and 802 are not limited to the examples described above, and may have any configuration other than those described above. In the above example, a step is formed at the end edge of the plate in order to hold the plate, but this step can be omitted or replaced with another shape as long as the plate can be lifted and conveyed.

(Embodiment 2)

In Embodiment 1 described above, the lowermost sheet material to which the vapor deposition material 95 is attached is taken out of the vapor deposition chamber 100, and another clean sheet material is stacked on the uppermost layer sheet material. On the other hand, in Embodiment 2, when the vapor deposition material 95 adheres only to the lower surface of the lowermost sheet material, the sheet material is not taken out from the vapor deposition chamber 100 but is reversed and laminated. on the top plate.

Hereinafter, Embodiment 2 will be described focusing on differences from Embodiment 1. FIG. In the drawings referred to in the following description, components corresponding to those described in Embodiment 1 are given the same reference numerals, and their repeated descriptions will be omitted.

Hereinafter, a maintenance method for the limiting unit 80 in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 2 will be described.

13A to 13D are diagrams sequentially showing the replacement procedure of the plates 811 to 815 constituting the limiting unit 80 in the vapor deposition apparatus according to the second embodiment. In these figures, illustration of the restricting portion 81 and the restricting opening 82 of the restricting unit 80 is omitted in order to simplify the drawing. In addition, illustration of components other than the restricting unit 80 is also omitted. In addition, components for replacing or lifting the plate constituting the restraint unit 80 (for example, the replacement arm 801 and the temporary holding arm 802 shown in FIGS. Illustration of snap-fitting structures etc. formed on the sheet.

As shown in FIG. 13A , five plate materials 811 to 815 are stacked sequentially from the lower side (the vapor deposition source 60 side) to the upper side (the substrate 10 side). These five plate materials 811 to 815 are mounted on the support stand 85 . When vapor deposition is performed in the state of FIG. 13A , as described in FIG. 10 , vapor deposition material 95 adheres to the lower surface (surface facing vapor deposition source 60 ) of lowermost plate material 811 .

When the vapor deposition material 95 of a predetermined thickness is attached, the vapor deposition is interrupted, and as shown in FIG. on the uppermost plate 815 . The plate 811 has been turned upside down. Therefore, the vapor deposition material 95 attached to the lower surface of the plate 811 in FIG. 13A is attached to the upper surface of the plate 811 (the surface opposite to the vapor deposition mask) in FIG. 13B .

Then, vapor deposition was started again. When depositing vapor deposition material 95 of a predetermined thickness on the lower surface of the lowermost plate 812 , the plate 812 is turned upside down and placed on the uppermost plate 811 in the same manner as in FIG. 13B .

Hereinafter, the same operation is performed until the plate material 811 moves to the lowermost layer.

When, as shown in FIG. 13C , the vapor deposition material 95 having a predetermined thickness adheres to the lower surface of the sheet material 811 moved to the lowermost layer, the vapor deposition is stopped. On this plate material 811, the vapor deposition material 95 adheres to both the upper surface and the lower surface. Therefore, the lowermost sheet material 811 is taken out from between the support table 85 and the sheet material 812, carried out to the outside of the vapor deposition chamber 100, and the vapor deposition material 95 adhering to both surfaces thereof is removed. Then, as shown in FIG. 13D , instead of the plate 811 , a clean plate 816 is placed on the uppermost plate 815 .

Then, vapor deposition was started again. When the vapor deposition material 95 of a predetermined thickness is attached to the lower surface of the lowermost plate 812, the plate 812 is carried out of the vapor deposition chamber in the same manner as in FIG. 13C, and a new clean plate is placed on the uppermost plate instead. 816 on.

Hereinafter, the same operation is performed until the board 816 moves to the lowest level.

When the sheet material 816 moves to the lowermost layer, it substantially returns to the state of FIG. 13A described above. Hereinafter, the above-mentioned operation is repeated.

As described above, according to Embodiment 2, the plate constituting the limiting unit 80 is taken out of the vapor deposition chamber after the vapor deposition material 95 adheres to both surfaces thereof, and a clean plate is carried into the vapor deposition chamber instead. Therefore, for example, in the vapor deposition system shown in FIG. 12 , the frequency of exchanging sheets through the door 105 is halved in the second embodiment compared to the first embodiment. Therefore, the productivity of the vapor deposition apparatus is further improved. In addition, the frequency of processing to remove the vapor deposition material from the plate taken out from the vapor deposition chamber was also halved. In addition, the storage quantity of clean boards can also be halved.

In addition, in this Embodiment 2, since the plates with the vapor deposition material 95 adhered to one surface are stacked, for example, in the state of FIG. 13A and the state of FIG. 13C , the thickness (Z-axis direction dimension ) are strictly speaking different. However, in reality, the thickness of vapor deposition material 95 is extremely thin relative to the thickness of the sheet material. Therefore, the above-mentioned variation in the thickness of the restricting unit 80 rarely becomes a problem substantially.

In the above-mentioned example, the plate with the vapor deposition material 95 attached to one surface and the clean plate are stacked on the upper surface of the uppermost plate, but it may also be inserted between the uppermost plate and the lowermost plate. anywhere in between.

Embodiment 2 is the same as Embodiment 1 except for the above.

(Embodiment 3)

In Embodiments 1 and 2 described above, the plurality of plate materials constituting the restricting unit 80 are all the same. On the other hand, in Embodiment 3, the arrangement of the through-holes is different for each of the plurality of plate materials constituting the restricting unit 80 .

Hereinafter, Embodiment 3 will be described focusing on differences from Embodiments 1 and 2. FIG. In the drawings referred to in the following description, components corresponding to those described in Embodiment 1 are given the same reference numerals, and their repeated descriptions are omitted.

In order to simplify the description, Embodiment 3 will be described using an example in which the limiting unit 80 includes three plates.

14 is a partial plan view of three plates 831 , 832 , and 833 constituting the confinement unit 80 of the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 3. FIG. The plates 831 , 832 , and 833 have the same external dimensions (ie, the external dimensions in the X-axis direction, Y-axis direction, and Z-axis direction). Three types of through-holes H1 , H2 , and H3 having different opening widths are formed at lattice point positions on the plate materials 831 , 832 , and 833 . However, the arrangement of the through-holes H1 , H2 , and H3 is different among the plate materials 831 , 832 , and 833 . The opening widths become larger in the order of the through holes H1 , H2 , and H3 .

As shown in FIG. 14 , three planes parallel to the XZ plane and arranged at regular intervals in the Y-axis direction are defined as planes P1 , P2 , and P3 in this order.

In the plate material 831 , a through-hole H1 is formed along the plane P1 , a through-hole H3 is formed along the plane P2 , and a through-hole H2 is formed along the plane P3 . In the plate material 832, the through-hole H2 is formed along the plane P1, the through-hole H1 is formed along the plane P2, and the through-hole H3 is formed along the plane P3. In the plate material 833, the through-hole H3 is formed along the plane P1, the through-hole H2 is formed along the plane P2, and the through-hole H1 is formed along the plane P3.

In each of the plates 831, 832, 833, the through-holes H1, H2, H3 have the same pitch in the X-axis direction, and the through-holes H1, H2, H3 are arranged at the same position in the X-axis direction. In addition, between the plate materials 831 , 832 , and 833 , the pitches in the X-axis direction of the through holes H1 , H2 , and H3 are the same.

As shown in FIG. 15 , plate materials 831 , 832 , and 833 are stacked sequentially in the Z-axis direction from the lower side (the vapor deposition source 60 side). These stacked plate materials 831 , 832 , and 833 are placed on the support stand 85 . Three types of through-holes H1 , H2 , and H3 are arranged on the plates 831 , 832 , and 833 as shown in FIG. 14 , and therefore, the three types of through-holes H1 , H2 , and H3 communicate in the Z-axis direction. The centers of the three types of through-holes H1 , H2 , and H3 communicating in the Z-axis direction coincide when viewed in a direction parallel to the Z-axis. On the plane P1, through-holes H1, through-holes H2, and through-holes H3 are sequentially arranged from bottom to top; on plane P2, through-holes H3, through-holes H1, and through-holes H2 are arranged in sequence from bottom to top; , the through hole H2, the through hole H3, and the through hole H1 are sequentially arranged from bottom to top.

A vapor deposition method using the confinement unit 80 of the third embodiment configured in this way will be described below.

16A to 16D are diagrams sequentially showing the replacement procedure of the plates 831 to 833 constituting the limiting unit 80 in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. In these figures, illustration of components other than the restricting unit 80 and the vapor deposition source opening 61 is omitted in order to simplify the drawing. In addition, components for replacing or lifting the plates 831 to 833 constituting the restriction unit 80 (for example, the replacement arm 801 and the temporary holding arm 802 shown in FIGS. The illustrations of the engaging structures and the like formed on the boards 831-833 are combined.

In FIG. 16A , similarly to FIG. 15 , plate materials 831 , 832 , and 833 are sequentially stacked in the Z-axis direction from the lower side (the vapor deposition source 60 side). The vapor deposition source opening 61 is arranged on the plane P1. Above the vapor deposition source opening 61 , a through hole H1 , a through hole H2 , and a through hole H3 are sequentially arranged from bottom to top. In this state, vapor deposition particles 91 are released from vapor deposition source opening 61 . The vapor deposition particles 91 sequentially pass through the through holes H1, the through holes H2, and the through holes H3 arranged on the plane P1, and further pass through the mask opening 71 of the vapor deposition mask 70, and adhere to the substrate 10 to form the coating film 90 (refer to Figure 5, Figure 6). Evaporation particles 91 discharged from vapor deposition source opening 61 do not reach substrate 10 through through holes H3 , H1 , H2 arranged on plane P2 or through holes H2 , H3 , H1 arranged on plane P3 . Over time, vapor deposition material 95 adheres to the vicinity of through-hole H1 and the inner peripheral surface of through-hole H1 on the lower surface (surface facing vapor deposition source opening 61 ) of lowermost plate member 831 .

When vapor deposition material 95 of a predetermined thickness is deposited, the vapor deposition is stopped, and as shown in FIG. 16B , the lowermost sheet material 831 is removed from between the support stand 85 and the sheet material 832 . The removed plate material 831 is carried out to the outside of the vapor deposition chamber and cleaned to remove the deposited vapor deposition material 95 . Furthermore, a clean plate 831' having the through-holes H1, H2, and H3 formed in the same arrangement as the plate 831 is placed on the uppermost plate 833.

Next, as shown in FIG. 16C , the limiting unit 80 is moved in the Y-axis direction so that the vapor deposition source opening 61 is arranged on the plane P2. Above the vapor deposition source opening 61 , similarly to FIG. 16A , through holes H1 , through holes H2 , and through holes H3 are sequentially arranged from bottom to top. In this state, vapor deposition particles 91 are ejected from vapor deposition source opening 61, and vapor deposition starts again. Vapor deposition particles 91 sequentially pass through through hole H1 , through hole H2 , and through hole H3 arranged on plane P2 , and adhere to substrate 10 to form coating film 90 (see FIGS. 5 and 6 ). Evaporation particles 91 released from vapor deposition source opening 61 do not reach substrate 10 through through holes H2 , H3 , H1 arranged on plane P1 or through holes H3 , H1 , H2 arranged on plane P3 . Over time, vapor deposition material 95 adheres to the vicinity of through-hole H1 and the inner peripheral surface of through-hole H1 on the lower surface (surface facing vapor deposition source opening 61 ) of lowermost plate member 832 .

When the vapor deposition material 95 of a predetermined thickness is attached, the vapor deposition is interrupted, and the lowermost plate 832 is removed from between the supporting platform 85 and the plate 833 as described in FIG. Arrangement of the clean plate 832 ′ formed with the through-holes H1 , H2 , and H3 is placed on the uppermost plate 831 ′. The removed plate material 832 is carried out to the outside of the vapor deposition chamber and cleaned to remove the deposited vapor deposition material 95 .

Next, as shown in FIG. 16D , the limiting unit 80 is moved in the Y-axis direction so that the vapor deposition source opening 61 is arranged on the plane P3. Above the vapor deposition source opening 61 , similarly to FIGS. 16A and 16C , through holes H1 , through holes H2 , and through holes H3 are sequentially arranged from bottom to top. In this state, vapor deposition particles 91 are ejected from vapor deposition source opening 61, and vapor deposition starts again. Vapor deposition particles 91 sequentially pass through through hole H1 , through hole H2 , and through hole H3 arranged on plane P3 , and adhere to substrate 10 to form coating film 90 (see FIGS. 5 and 6 ). Evaporation particles 91 released from vapor deposition source opening 61 do not reach substrate 10 through through holes H3 , H1 , H2 arranged on plane P1 or through holes H2 , H3 , H1 arranged on plane P2 . Over time, vapor deposition material 95 adheres to the vicinity of through-hole H1 and the inner peripheral surface of through-hole H1 on the lower surface (surface facing vapor deposition source opening 61 ) of lowermost plate member 833 .

When the vapor deposition material 95 of a predetermined thickness is adhered, the vapor deposition is interrupted, and as described in FIG. The clean plate material in which the through-holes H1 , the through-holes H2 , and the through-holes H3 are formed in the same arrangement is placed on the uppermost plate material 832 ′. The removed plate material 833 is carried out to the outside of the vapor deposition chamber and cleaned to remove the deposited vapor deposition material 95 . Thereby, the lamination order of the plate materials constituting the restricting unit 80 is substantially returned to the above-mentioned state of FIG. 16A . Hereinafter, the above-mentioned operation is repeated.

As described above, according to Embodiment 3, only the lowermost sheet material to which the vapor deposition material 95 is attached is taken out, and a clean sheet material having through-holes formed in the same pattern as it is stacked on the uppermost sheet material. . Thereby, the same effect as that of Embodiment 1 can be obtained.

In addition, with the replacement of the above-mentioned plate material, the limiting unit 80 is moved in the Y-axis direction relative to the evaporation source opening 61, so that the evaporation particles 91 forming a film on the substrate pass through the limiting opening 82. The limiting opening 82 includes: A plurality of types of through-holes whose opening widths gradually increase from the vapor deposition source opening 61 side toward the substrate 10 communicate with each other. That is, the movement restriction unit 80 is such that the vapor deposition particles 91 released from the vapor deposition source opening 61 always enter the through hole H1 having the smallest opening width among the three kinds of through holes H1, H2, H3 formed in the lowermost plate material. Therefore, as described above, vapor deposition material 95 adheres to the inside of through hole H1 in addition to the portion near the through hole H1 on the lower surface (surface facing the vapor deposition source opening 61 ) of the lowermost plate material. Zhou Mian.

The vapor deposition material 95 adhering to the inner peripheral surface of the through-hole H1 may peel off and fall, similarly to the vapor deposition material adhering to the lower surface of the lowermost plate. In addition, even if it is not peeled off, the vapor deposition material 95 adhering to the inner peripheral surface of the through hole H1 will narrow the opening width of the through hole H1, so that the incident angle of the vapor deposition particles 91 in the limiting unit 80 is restricted. The function is reduced, and the function of trapping vapor deposition particles 91 colliding with the inner peripheral surface is reduced.

According to Embodiment 3, since the lowermost board is taken out during maintenance of the limiting unit 80, not only the vapor deposition material does not adhere to the lower surface of the lowermost board, but also the through-hole H1 of the lowermost board can be changed. The vapor deposition material was not adhered to the inner peripheral surface of the film. Therefore, the above-mentioned problem caused by the deposition material 95 adhering to the inner peripheral surface of the through-hole H1 can be eliminated.

In the present embodiment, it is preferable that the opening width of the through hole gradually increases from the lower layer to the upper layer as in the above-mentioned example. Thus, even if the vapor deposition material 95 adheres to the inner peripheral surface of the through-hole of the uppermost plate than the lowermost plate and peels off, the peeled vapor deposition material will fall on the upper surface of the lower plate and Therefore, the possibility of falling onto the vapor deposition source 60 is low. Therefore, the possibility that the dropped evaporation material is heated and re-evaporated is generally low.

More preferably, the opening width of the through-hole gradually increases from the lower layer to the upper layer so that the vapor deposition material 95 does not adhere to the inner peripheral surface of the through-hole of the plate material above the lowermost layer plate material.

In the above-mentioned example, the example in which the restricting unit 80 includes three boards was described, but the number of boards is not limited to three, as long as it is two or more. The number of types of through-holes having different opening widths is set to be the same as the number of plates constituting the restricting unit 80 .

In the above example, the opening shape of the through hole is substantially square, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be rectangular, for example.

The various through holes do not need to have different opening widths in both the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. In the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 10 , the vapor deposition material is generally easy to adhere to the inner peripheral surface (that is, the side surface 84 of the restricting portion 81) opposite to the X-axis direction. Therefore, Y can be formed on each plate. Various types of through-holes have a constant opening width in the axial direction and different opening widths in the X-axis direction.

In the above example, the position of the vapor deposition source opening 61 is fixed and the restricting unit 80 is moved in the Y-axis direction, but the third embodiment is not limited thereto, and the position of the restricting unit 80 may be made constant, for example. In this case, it is only necessary to move the vapor deposition source 60 including the vapor deposition source opening 61 and the vapor deposition mask 70 in the Y-axis direction relative to the restricting unit 80 during maintenance of the restricting unit 80 .

In the above-mentioned example, the planes P1 to P3 were arranged at constant pitches in the Y-axis direction as shown in FIG. 14 , but the present invention is not limited thereto, and they may be arranged in the X-axis direction. In this case, the arrangement of the through-holes H1 to H3 and the moving direction of the restricting means 80 are switched between the X-axis and the Y-axis. However, in this case, for example, sufficient consideration needs to be given to the design so that when the plane P1 is disposed on the vapor deposition source opening 60, the planes P2 and P3 are disposed between the vapor deposition source openings 60, and the vapor deposition particles 91 do not It reaches the substrate 10 through a portion other than the through hole on the plane P1. Therefore, the above-mentioned examples are preferable in terms of design.

Similar to Embodiment 2, in this Embodiment 3, the board may be taken out of the vapor deposition chamber after the vapor deposition material is attached to both surfaces of the board. That is, when the vapor deposition material adheres only to the lower surface of the lowermost board, the board can be reversed and stacked on the uppermost board. In the case where the vapor deposition material is attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the lowermost sheet, the lowermost sheet can be taken out of the vapor deposition chamber, and a clean sheet with through holes formed in the same pattern as it can be stacked on the uppermost layer. on the plate. Thereby, since the replacement|exchange frequency of a board|plate can be reduced, the productivity of an apparatus can be improved.

Embodiment 3 is the same as Embodiment 1 except for the above.

(Embodiment 4)

In Embodiments 1 and 2 described above, a plurality of plate materials are laminated so that the edges of the plurality of through-holes constituting the restriction opening 82 coincide. On the other hand, in Embodiment 4, a plurality of plate materials are stacked with shifted positions so that the edge edges of the plurality of through-holes constituting the restricting opening 82 do not coincide.

Hereinafter, Embodiment 4 will be described focusing on differences from Embodiment 1. FIG. In the drawings referred to in the following description, components corresponding to those described in Embodiment 1 are given the same reference numerals, and their repeated descriptions are omitted.

17A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of one restriction opening 82 of the restriction unit 80 and its vicinity in the vapor deposition apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.

The restricting unit 80 includes five plate materials 811 to 815 of the same shape and the same size stacked in the Z-axis direction. The odd-numbered plates 811 , 813 , and 815 are shifted relative to the even-numbered plates 812 , 814 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. The particle flow of the vapor deposition particles 91 discharged from the vapor deposition source opening 61 and able to pass through the restricting opening 82 of the restricting unit 80 is formed by the edge of the through hole of the uppermost plate 815 and the plate 814 of the second layer from the upper side. The end edge of the through hole is specified.

FIG. 17B is an enlarged plan view of the restriction opening 82 and its vicinity. The solid lines represent the odd-numbered plates 811 , 813 , 815 , and the dashed lines represent the even-numbered plates 812 , 814 . The hatched area is the effective area of the restriction opening 82 through which vapor deposition particles can pass.

According to Embodiment 4, the size and shape of the effective area of the restricting opening 82 can be arbitrarily changed by changing the positional displacement amount and the positional displacement direction between the plurality of plate materials constituting the restricting unit 80 . The size of the effective area of the restriction opening 82 can be adjusted within a range not larger than the size of the through-hole formed in the plate material. For example, when the pattern of the coating film 90 to be formed on the substrate 10 is changed, it may be necessary to change the effective area of the restriction opening 82 of the restriction unit 80 accordingly. In such a case, in Embodiment 4, the effective area of the restriction opening 82 can be changed by merely changing the relative positions between the plurality of board members without replacing the plurality of board members constituting the restricting unit 80 . Therefore, it is not necessary to prepare boards having different specifications for each pattern of the film 90 , so that the production cost of the boards can be reduced, and a large space for storing various boards is not required.

As shown in FIG. 17A , unevenness is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the predetermined restriction opening 82 by shifting the positions of the plurality of plate materials. The vapor deposition material tends to adhere to the protrusions on the inner peripheral surface, but hardly adheres to the recesses. Therefore, for example, when a large amount of vapor deposition material is attached to a convex portion, it is possible to prevent the vapor deposition material from further adhering to the convex portion by changing the relative positions of the plurality of plate materials so that the convex portion becomes a concave portion. The plating material peeled off and fell off. As a result, the replacement frequency of the board can be reduced.

In FIG. 17A , the vapor deposition device of this embodiment can be arranged so that the Z-axis direction becomes the horizontal direction. In this case, even if the vapor deposition material adhering to the convex portion on the inner peripheral surface of the limiting opening 82 peels off and falls, the vapor deposition material falls and is caught in the concave portion facing the convex portion in the vertical direction. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the peeled vapor deposition material from contaminating the interior of the vapor deposition apparatus. In addition, the vapor deposition material caught in the concave portion does not narrow the opening width of the restriction opening 82 .

In the above example, some of the plurality of plate materials are shifted in two directions of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction with respect to the remaining parts. In this case, the amount of positional shift in the X-axis direction and the amount of positional shift in the Y-axis direction may be the same or different. That is, the direction in which the position is shifted can be set arbitrarily within the XY plane. For example, the position may be shifted only in any one of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.

In the above example, the position of the odd-numbered plate among the plurality of plates is shifted relative to the even-numbered plate, but it is not necessary to alternately shift the positions of the plurality of plates one by one. For example, the positions may be alternately shifted for every two adjacent plate materials. Alternatively, any one or more of the plurality of plates (for example, the uppermost plate and/or the lowermost plate) may be shifted relative to other plates.

In the above example, the odd-numbered plate and the even-numbered plate are at the same position. That is, the number of types of positions where the plate materials are arranged is two. However, it is also possible to arrange the plates in three or more different positions.

Embodiment 4 is the same as Embodiments 1 and 2 except for the above. The maintenance of the limiting unit 80 performed when the vapor deposition material adheres to the plate can be performed in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments.

(implementation mode 5)

Hereinafter, Embodiment 5 will be described focusing on differences from Embodiment 1. FIG. In the drawings referred to in the following description, components corresponding to those described in Embodiment 1 are given the same reference numerals, and their repeated descriptions are omitted.

18 is a perspective view showing a basic configuration of a vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. FIG. 19 is a front cross-sectional view of the vapor deposition device shown in FIG. 18 along a plane passing through the vapor deposition source 60 . The vapor deposition device according to Embodiment 5 is different from the vapor deposition device according to Embodiment 1 in the structure of the limiting unit 80 .

The restricting part 81 of the restricting unit 80 includes a plurality of sheet materials stacked in the Z-axis direction in Embodiment 1, but in Embodiment 5, includes a plurality of sheets stacked in the X-axis direction (in this example for 4) plates. The plurality of plates are locked to a frame-shaped support stand 86 whose shape is substantially rectangular when viewed from the Z-axis direction. The plurality of restricting portions 81 are arranged at regular intervals in the X-axis direction. The through holes penetrating in the Z-axis direction formed between the restricting portions 81 adjacent in the X-axis direction constitute restricting openings 82 through which vapor deposition particles 91 pass.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view along a plane parallel to the XZ plane, showing a state in which the coating film 90 is formed on the substrate 10 in the fifth embodiment. The restricting portion 81 of Embodiment 5 restricts the incident angle of vapor deposition particles 91 entering the mask opening 71 (or substrate 10 ) in the X-axis direction similarly to the restricting portion 81 of Embodiment 1 (see FIG. 9 ). In Embodiment 5, the restricting portion 81 includes a plurality of plate materials stacked in the X-axis direction. Therefore, compared with Embodiment 1, the aspect ratio of the restricting opening 82 (=Z-axis direction dimension of the restricting portion 81/X-axis direction distance between adjacent restricting portions 81 in the X-axis direction) can be easily changed. big. As a result, it is advantageous to reduce the incident angle of the vapor deposition particles 91 incident on the mask opening 71 in the X-axis direction.

In this example, the restricting portion 81 includes four plates of the same thickness. The four plates include a pair of first plates 851 and a pair of second plates 852 . FIG. 21A is a plan view of the first plate 851 , and FIG. 21B is a plan view of the second plate 852 . FIG. 21C is a cross-sectional view of the first plate 851 and the second plate 852 along the line 21C-21C of FIGS. 21A and 21B . Both the first sheet material 851 and the second sheet material 852 have a main portion 855 having a substantially rectangular sheet shape. A first inclined surface 859 a and a second inclined surface 859 b are formed on a pair of opposing sides (short sides in this example) of the main portion 855 . As shown in FIG. 21C , a first inclined surface 859 a and a second inclined surface 859 b are formed on opposite sides of the main portion 855 .

The side of the main part 855 on which the second inclined surface 859b is formed is extended so as to protrude to both outer sides, and a pair of arms 856 are formed.

In the first plate 851, a first hook 857a protruding upward (on the side opposite to the main portion 855) and a second hook protruding downward (on the same side as the main portion 855) are formed on each arm 856. 858a. The first hook 857a and the second hook 858a formed on each of the pair of arms 856 face each other.

In the second plate material 852, a first hook 857b protruding upward (on the side opposite to the main portion 855) and a second hook protruding downward (on the same side as the main portion 855) are formed on each arm 856. 858b. The first hook 857b and the second hook 858b formed on each of the pair of arms 856 face opposite sides to each other.

The first plate 851 and the second plate 852 are identical except for the first hooks 857a, 857b and the second hooks 858a, 858b.

FIG. 22 is an enlarged perspective view showing a part of the upper end surface of the support stand 86 . A notch 86n is formed on each upper end surface of a pair of side walls extending parallel to the X-axis of the support stand 86 . The pair of first plate materials 851 and the pair of second plate materials 852 are overlapped (that is, mutually contacted) such that their arms 856 are fitted into the cutouts 86n. Thereby, the 1st board|plate material and the 2nd board|plate material 851,852 are hung on the support stand 86, and are held. The size of the cutout 86n in the X-axis direction substantially corresponds to the total thickness when the pair of first plate materials 851 and the pair of second plate materials 852 are laminated. Therefore, the pair of first plate materials 851 and the pair of second plate materials 852 held on the support stand 86 as described above are positioned in the X-axis direction in close contact with each other.

FIG. 23A is a front view of the restricting portion 81 held by the support table 86 . FIG. 23B is a cross-sectional view of the restricting portion 81 taken along the line 23B-23B in FIG. 23A . As shown in FIG. 23A, when viewed in a direction parallel to the X-axis, the first hook 857a and the second hook 858a of the first plate 851 are arranged at different positions from the first hook 857b and the second hook 858b of the second plate 852. Location. As shown in Figure 23B, a pair of second plate materials 852 are overlapped in such a way that the surfaces formed with the second inclined surface 859b are in contact with each other, and on both outer sides, a pair of first plate materials 851 are formed with the surfaces formed with the second inclined surface 859b. The manner of contact with the second sheet 852 overlaps.

In FIG. 23A, reference numerals 87a, 87b denote lifting rods, and reference numerals 88a, 88b denote fixed rods. Both the lift rods 87a, 87b and the fixed rods 88a, 88b are rod-shaped members extending parallel to the X-axis. A pair of lift rods 87 a and 87 b are arranged above the arm 856 , and a pair of fixed rods 88 a and 88 b are arranged below the arm 856 .

The pair of lift rods 87a is arranged between the pair of lift rods 87b. In FIG. 23A, the pair of lift rod 87a and lift rod 87b arranged on the right side and the pair of lift rod 87a and lift rod 87b arranged on the left side can be integrally maintained while keeping the distance between them constant. It reciprocates in the Y-axis direction and can be integrally raised and lowered in the Z-axis direction. In the state shown in FIG. 23A , the pair of lift levers 87 a engages with the pair of first hooks 857 a of the first plate 851 . From this state, the lift rods 87a, 87b can be moved in the Y-axis direction, and the pair of lift rods 87b can be engaged with the pair of first hooks 857b of the second panel 852 . By reciprocating the lifting rods 87a and 87b integrally in the Y-axis direction in this way, the engagement of the pair of lifting rods 87a and the pair of first hooks 857a and the engagement of the pair of lifting rods 87b and the pair of first hooks can be performed alternatively. Either of the snaps of 857b. In addition, the lift levers 87a and 87b can be raised in the Z-axis direction from the position in FIG. 23A while maintaining such an alternative engagement state.

The pair of fixed rods 88a is disposed between the pair of fixed rods 88b. In FIG. 23A, the pair of fixed rod 88a and fixed rod 88b arranged on the right side and the pair of fixed rod 88a and fixed rod 88b arranged on the left side can be integrally formed while keeping the distance between them constant. Move back and forth in the Y-axis direction. In the state shown in FIG. 23A , the pair of fixing rods 88 b are engaged with the pair of second hooks 858 b of the second plate 852 . From this state, the fixing bars 88a and 88b can be moved in the Y-axis direction away from the main part 855 , and the pair of fixing bars 88a can be engaged with the pair of second hooks 858a of the first panel 851 . By reciprocating the fixing rods 88a and 88b integrally in the Y-axis direction in this way, the engagement of the pair of fixing rods 88a and the pair of second hooks 858a and the engagement of the pair of fixing rods 88b and the pair of second hooks can be performed alternatively. Either of the snaps of 858b.

Also in this embodiment, as in Embodiment 1, when the coating film 90 is continuously formed on the substrate 10 for a long period of time, as shown in FIG. Here, the vapor deposition material 95 adheres to the restricting portion 81 . Although it varies depending on the relative positional relationship between the vapor deposition source opening 61 and the restricting portion 81, etc., the vapor deposition material 95 is generally attached to the outermost plate in the X-axis direction among the plurality of plates constituting the restricting portion 81 (the outermost plate). outer surface of the sheet). As described above, in Embodiment 5, the aspect ratio of the restriction opening 82 can be increased. Therefore, the distance in the Z-axis direction between the restricting portion 81 and the vapor deposition source opening 61 can be reduced. As a result, the vapor deposition material adhering to the plate materials other than the outermost layer among the plurality of plate materials constituting the restricting portion 81 can be reduced.

When the deposition amount of vapor deposition material 95 adhering to restricting portion 81 increases, vapor deposition material 95 peels off and falls, contaminating the inside of the vapor deposition apparatus. When the peeled vapor deposition material 95 falls onto the vapor deposition source 60 , the vapor deposition material is heated to re-evaporate, and adheres to an undesired position on the substrate 10 to lower the yield. Also, when the peeled vapor deposition material falls onto the vapor deposition source opening 61 , the vapor deposition source opening 61 is clogged with the vapor deposition material, and the coating film 90 cannot be formed at a desired position on the substrate 10 .

In addition, when the vapor deposition material 95 adheres to the outermost sheet among the plurality of sheets constituting the restricting portion 81, the distance between the adjacent restricting portions 81 in the X-axis direction becomes narrow, and the vapor deposition of the restricting unit 80 becomes smaller. The incident angle restriction function of the plating particles is reduced, and the trapping function of the vapor deposition particles colliding with the outermost sheet material is reduced.

Therefore, it is necessary to periodically maintain the limiting unit 80 so that the deposited amount of the vapor deposition material 95 does not exceed a predetermined amount.

Hereinafter, a maintenance method of the limiting unit 80 in the vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 5 will be described.

When the vapor deposition material 95 of a predetermined thickness is deposited on the outermost first sheet material 851, the vapor deposition is stopped. Then, as shown in FIG. 23A , the pair of lifting rods 87 a are engaged with the pair of first hooks 857 a of the first plate 851 , and the pair of fixing rods 88 b are engaged with the pair of second hooks 858 b of the second plate 852 . . In this state, the lift levers 87a, 87b are raised.

Fig. 25A is a front view showing a state in which the lift rods 87a and 87b are rising, and Fig. 25B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 25B-25B in Fig. 25A. The lift lever 87a engages with the first hooks 857a of the pair of first plates 851 constituting the outermost layers of the restricting portion 81 . On the other hand, the fixing rod 88b is engaged with the second hooks 858b of the pair of second plate materials 852 between the pair of first plate materials 851 . Therefore, the pair of second boards 852 does not move, and only the pair of first boards 851 rises together with the lift rods 87a, 87b. The pair of first plate materials 851 separated from the pair of second plate materials 852 is carried out to the outside of the vapor deposition chamber and cleaned to remove the deposited vapor deposition material 95 . The vapor deposition material 95 can be recovered and reused as necessary.

Next, instead of the pair of first plates 851 taken out in FIGS. 25A and 25B , as shown in FIGS. 26A and 26B , a clean pair of first plates 851 ′ is engaged with the lifting rod 87 a through its first hook 857 a . The first sheet 851' is the same as the first sheet 851 shown in FIG. 21A. As shown in FIG. 26B , a pair of first plates 851' overlaps surfaces formed with second inclined surfaces 859b in contact with each other. Therefore, the inclined surfaces 859a formed at the lower ends of the pair of first plates 851' combine to form a wedge shape that becomes thinner toward the lower side. In this state, the lift rods 87a, 87b are lowered. The wedge shape formed by the inclined surfaces 859a of the pair of first plates 851' is inserted into a concave portion having a V-shaped cross section formed by combining the inclined surfaces 859b of the pair of first plates 851. As a result, the pair of second plate materials 852 that are in contact with each other is separated, and the pair of first plate materials 851' enters between them. The pair of first boards 851' is pressed downward between the pair of second boards 852 by the lift rod 87a until the arms 856 of the pair of first boards 851' fit into the cutouts 86n of the supporting table 86.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 27A and FIG. 27B, a pair of first plates 851' are formed to overlap in a manner of contacting each other, and on both outer sides thereof, a pair of second plates 852 are limited to overlap in a manner of contacting the first plates 851'. Section 81. By the cutout 86n, the restricting portion 81 is accurately positioned in the X-axis direction.

Through the above steps, the maintenance of the restriction unit 80 is completed. Then, vapor deposition was started again.

When the vapor deposition material 95 having a predetermined thickness adheres to the outermost second sheet material 852 , the vapor deposition is interrupted. This time, the pair of lifting rods 87b are engaged with the pair of first hooks 857b of the second plate 852, and the pair of fixing rods 88a are engaged with the pair of second hooks 858a of the first plate 851'. In this state, the lift levers 87a, 87b are raised. Hereafter, the same operation as above is carried out, and the pair of second plate materials 852 to which the vapor deposition material is attached is taken out, and a pair of clean second plate materials is inserted between the pair of first plate materials 851' instead.

As described above, according to Embodiment 5, the restricting portion 81 includes a plurality of plates stacked in the X-axis direction, and thus, only by taking out a pair of outermost plate materials to which the vapor deposition material 95 is attached, and Maintenance of the confinement unit 80 is complete by inserting a clean pair of plates between the remaining plates.

The board is thin and light, and therefore, the lifting rods 87a, 87b and the fixing rods 88a, 88b used when replacing the board do not need to have a large withstand load. Therefore, it is possible to reduce cost increase of vapor deposition facilities.

In addition, it is not necessary to open the vapor deposition chamber 100 to return the interior of the vapor deposition chamber 100 to atmospheric pressure in order to replace the sheet because it is only necessary to transport a thin and light board using the simple lifting rods 87a and 87b. Therefore, there is no need to stop the vapor deposition for a long time to limit the maintenance of the unit 80 (that is, to replace the plate material), and thus the productivity of the vapor deposition apparatus is improved.

In addition, the work of removing the vapor deposition material adhering to the thin and light board is easy.

In Embodiment 5, as in Embodiment 2, the board with vapor deposition material attached to only one surface can be reused, and when the vapor deposition material is attached to both sides of the board, the board can be taken out from the vapor deposition chamber. Instead, insert clean plates. For example, in the case where the vapor deposition material 95 is attached to only one surface on a pair of outermost plates 851 as shown in FIG. 25A and FIG. 26A and 26B, it may be inserted between a pair of plates 852 in the same manner as shown in FIG. 26A and FIG. 26B. Thereby, the same effects as those described in Embodiment 2 can be obtained. However, even in the case where the surfaces to which the vapor deposition material 95 is attached are in contact with each other, in order to perform the same operation as that shown in FIG. 26A and FIG. The cross-sectional shape of the stacked plates is formed into a W shape or the like.

In the example described above, the restricting portion 81 includes four plates, but the number of plates constituting the restricting portion 81 may be set arbitrarily as long as it is an even number. Regardless of the number of plates constituting the limiting unit 81, as long as the pair of outermost plates to which the evaporation material 95 is attached is taken out and a clean pair of plates is inserted in the center of the remaining plates, the maintenance of the limiting unit 80 is performed. it's done.

The position where a pair of boards are inserted does not need to be the center of a plurality of boards, and may be any position other than the outermost layer.

The mechanism for selectively taking out only the outermost sheet material from the plurality of sheet materials constituting the restricting portion 81 and the mechanism for inserting a clean sheet material between the plurality of sheet materials are not limited to the above examples, can be changed freely.

Embodiments 1 to 5 described above are merely examples. The present invention is not limited to Embodiments 1 to 5 described above, and can be appropriately changed.

The shape of the vapor deposition source opening of the vapor deposition source 60 can be set arbitrarily. For example, instead of the nozzle shape shown in Embodiments 1 to 5, the vapor deposition source opening may have a slit shape extending in the X-axis direction. In this case, the opening size in the X-axis direction of the vapor deposition source openings having a slit shape may be larger than the X-axis direction pitch of the limiting openings 82 .

When the size of the substrate 10 in the X-axis direction is large, a plurality of vapor deposition units 50 shown in the above-mentioned embodiments may be arranged with positions in the X-axis direction and Y-axis direction different.

In Embodiments 1 to 5 described above, the substrate 10 is moved relative to the stationary vapor deposition unit 50, but the present invention is not limited thereto, as long as one of the vapor deposition unit 50 and the substrate 10 is relatively moved relative to the other. That's it. For example, the vapor deposition unit 50 may be moved while keeping the position of the substrate 10 constant, or both the vapor deposition unit 50 and the substrate 10 may be moved.

In Embodiments 1 to 5 described above, the substrate 10 is arranged above the vapor deposition unit 50 , but the relative positional relationship between the vapor deposition unit 50 and the substrate 10 is not limited to this. For example, the substrate 10 may be arranged below the vapor deposition unit 50 , or the vapor deposition unit 50 and the substrate 10 may be arranged to face each other in the horizontal direction.

In Embodiments 1 to 5 described above, the case where the light emitting layer of the organic EL element is formed has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, when the thickness of layers other than the light-emitting layer of the organic EL element is changed for each color for the purpose of making the current-voltage characteristics uniform for each color, or for the purpose of adjusting the light-emitting spectrum by using the microcavity effect, The present invention can be utilized. In addition, the present invention can be utilized when forming various thin films other than those constituting an organic EL element by a vapor deposition method. Industrial availability

The field of application of the present invention is not particularly limited, and it can be preferably utilized for formation of a light emitting layer of an organic EL display device. Symbol Description

10 Substrate

10a The first direction (moving direction of the substrate)

10e Evaporated surface

20 Organic EL elements

23R, 23G, 23B Light-emitting layer

50 Evaporation unit

56 Moving Mechanism

60 Evaporation source

61 Evaporation source opening

70 Evaporation mask

71 Mask opening

80 Restriction Units

81 Department of Restrictions

82 Restricted opening

83 Lower surface of restriction

85, 86 Supporting platform

90 Film coating

90e Fuzzy part

90m Main part of film covering

91 Evaporation particles

100 Evaporation Chambers

811, 812, 813, 814, 815 plates

831, 832, 833 plate

851, 852 Plates

Claims (17)

1. A vapor deposition device, which is a vapor deposition device for forming a coating film of a predetermined pattern on a substrate, characterized in that: The vapor deposition device has: An evaporation unit, the evaporation unit is provided with an evaporation source, an evaporation mask and a confinement unit, the evaporation source has at least one evaporation source opening, and the evaporation mask is arranged on the at least one evaporation Between the source opening and the substrate, the confinement unit is arranged between the at least one evaporation source opening and the evaporation mask and is arranged along a first direction perpendicular to the normal of the substrate. Multiple Restricted Sections; and a movement mechanism for moving one of the substrate and the vapor deposition unit along a normal direction to the substrate and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction moves relative to the other of the substrate and the evaporation unit, attaching vapor deposition particles released from the at least one vapor deposition source opening and passing through the plurality of restriction openings separated by the plurality of restriction parts and the plurality of mask openings formed in the evaporation mask forming the coating on the substrate, The limiting unit includes a plurality of laminated plates. 2. The evaporation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The plurality of plates are stacked in the normal direction of the substrate, A plurality of through holes constituting the plurality of restricted openings are formed in each of the plurality of plate materials. 3. vapor deposition device as claimed in claim 2, is characterized in that: The plurality of through-holes formed in each of the plurality of plate materials includes a plurality of types of through-holes with different opening widths, The plurality of types of through-holes having different opening widths communicate in a direction normal to the substrate to form the plurality of restricted openings. 4. vapor deposition device as claimed in claim 3, is characterized in that: The opening widths of the plurality of types of through-holes communicating in the normal direction of the substrate become larger as approaching the vapor deposition mask from the vapor deposition source opening. 5. The vapor deposition device as claimed in claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: The vapor deposition particles released from the vapor deposition source opening adhere only to the inner peripheral surfaces of the plurality of types of through holes communicating in the normal direction of the substrate, which are closest to the vapor deposition source opening. The inner peripheral surface of the through hole. 6. The vapor deposition device according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: In each of the plurality of plate materials, the plurality of types of through-holes having different opening widths are arranged in a direction parallel to the second direction. 7. The evaporation device according to claim 2, characterized in that: A part of the plurality of plates is shifted in a direction perpendicular to a normal direction of the substrate with respect to another part, so that unevenness is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the plurality of restricting openings. 8. The evaporation device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The plurality of plates are alternately displaced in opposite directions. 9. The evaporation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: the plurality of sheets are stacked in the first direction, Each of the plurality of restriction portions includes the plurality of plate materials stacked in the first direction. 10. A vapor deposition method, which is a vapor deposition method having a vapor deposition step of attaching vapor deposition particles to a substrate to form a film of a predetermined pattern, characterized in that: The vapor deposition step is performed using the vapor deposition apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9. 11. A vapor deposition method, which is a vapor deposition method having a vapor deposition step of attaching vapor deposition particles to a substrate to form a film of a predetermined pattern, characterized in that: using the vapor deposition device described in claim 2 to carry out the vapor deposition process, The evaporation method also has: a step of removing, among the plurality of plates, a plate to which the vapor deposition particles are attached, which is closest to the vapor deposition source; and A step of adding a clean sheet to the restricting unit at a position different from that of the removed sheet. 12. A vapor deposition method, which is a vapor deposition method having a vapor deposition step of attaching vapor deposition particles to a substrate to form a film of a predetermined pattern, characterized in that: using the vapor deposition device described in claim 2 to carry out the vapor deposition process, The vapor deposition method also has the following steps: removing the plate closest to the vapor deposition source and having the vapor deposition particles attached to only one surface among the plurality of plates, inverting the plate, at a position different from that of the removed plate position, add the plate to the limiting unit. 13. The evaporation method according to claim 12, characterized in that: The evaporation method also has: a step of removing, among the plurality of plates, the plate closest to the vapor deposition source and having the vapor deposition particles adhered to both sides; and A step of adding a clean sheet to the restricting unit at a position different from that of the removed sheet. 14. A vapor deposition method, which is a vapor deposition method having a vapor deposition step of attaching vapor deposition particles to a substrate to form a film of a predetermined pattern, characterized in that: using the vapor deposition device described in any one of claims 3 to 6 to carry out the vapor deposition step, The evaporation method also has: removing the plate with the vapor deposition particles attached thereto closest to the vapor deposition source among the plurality of plates, and adding a plate to the limit at a position different from that of the removed plate; the process in the unit; and a step of moving one of the evaporation source opening and the restricting unit relative to the other in the second direction. 15. A vapor deposition method, which is a vapor deposition method having a vapor deposition step of attaching vapor deposition particles to a substrate to form a film of a predetermined pattern, characterized in that: using the vapor deposition device described in claim 2 to carry out the vapor deposition process, The vapor deposition method also has the following steps: A part of the plurality of plate materials is shifted in a direction perpendicular to a normal direction of the substrate with respect to another part so that irregularities are formed on the inner peripheral surfaces of the plurality of restricting openings. 16. A vapor deposition method, which is a vapor deposition method having a vapor deposition step of attaching vapor deposition particles to a substrate to form a film of a predetermined pattern, characterized in that: using the vapor deposition device described in claim 9 to carry out the vapor deposition process, The evaporation method also has: a step of removing a pair of outermost sheet materials to which the vapor deposition particles are adhered, among the plurality of sheet materials constituting each of the plurality of restriction parts; and The process of inserting an overlapping pair of panels between the plurality of panels. 17. An organic EL display device, characterized in that: The coating film formed by the vapor deposition method according to any one of claims 11 to 16 is provided as a light emitting layer.

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